Winter Wonderland

I couldn’t help it, I had to take more pictures of the frost. Here are some of my favorites!

Frozen Beauty

I love frost! Well, I love to photograph it. I enjoy capturing something that makes even the ugliest, most boring stick, look beautiful. Of all the beautiful frosted things in the garden, a few spider webs really caught my attention beaded in ice. They looked like diamond necklaces sparkling in the sunlight.

In case you haven’t noticed I am drawn to God’s creation, He truly is an amazing artist!

Animal Captions

I found a few more silly captioned animal pictures. I can’t get over how CUTE that frog is! He is very expressive for an amphibian.

In case you didn’t know: srsly= seriously 🙂

Christmas Vacation: Finale

On our way home from Crescent City we headed to Portland to visit with my grandparents and then later on with my Aunt Rexine & Uncle Dave. It was neat to be able to spend some quality time with each of my relatives. It had been awhile especially with my aunt & uncle. That night we drove to Shelton to stay with Todd’s Mom again. The next afternoon we stayed around to spend time with Tom, Cindy & Todd’s sister Kali.

I have to say this is one of my favorite trips back home. We got to visit lots of family and see so many beautiful places along the way. The Lord kept us safe, kept the passes clear and even delayed the snow the day we left Washington. Thanks for praying and thinking of us on our journey and thanks for hanging in there for my two weeks of vacation posts 🙂

Christmas Vacation: Part 6

Only one more post and then on to something else, I promise 🙂 After we left Sacramento, we headed up the 101 to the Redwood National Forest. Our first stop was the 315 ft tall Chandelier Tree which we got to drive our little car through. We then took the Avenue of Giants route where we saw lots of giant redwoods. It was overcast and raining, but still beautiful.

After the redwoods we continued on to Ferndale, CA. This little town is known for their unique Victorian village. I loved the colors and architecture of the old buildings.

Our last stop for the night (before our hotel in Crescent City) was in Eureka, CA to see the Carson Mansion. I remember watching a California’s Gold episode about it and wanted to see it in person. It looked really beautiful lit up at night.

… end of the trip next

Christmas Vacation: Part 5

The last day we had together as a family was Sunday morning for breakfast. We met with my cousin Jason & his wife Rosa, Matt, Cherise, and my parents at Denny’s. Todd and I had to be on the road that day to make it to Sacramento for the night. We stayed with my cousin Sarah again and I finally got a picture of her lovely remodeled kitchen. I am always sad to leave my family, but hope to see them soon.

… Redwood Forest coming up

The Tide is High

I am not quite done with my vacation posts, but I wanted to share what our weather is doing up here. First off, our place does not have it bad (yet!) compared to other parts of the county. Most of the major roads are closed due to flooding. I drove by (at a higher level) several vehicles with the water line up to their hoods and a front door of a house only a couple inches away from water entering it. Pretty crazy!

We could flood since we are close to a river, but I hoping that does not happen. At 2:30 when I took these pictures, our deepest spot was about 8 inches, it’s been raining non-stop since. I heard about 15 years ago people were rowing around town, we should have taken that inflatable boat my parents offered us 🙂

Below is a stitched together picture of our new backyard pond! *Click to view larger.

Christmas Vacation: Part 4

Meet Lucy, Matt & Cherise’s new adopted Boxer pup! She is such a love bug. She has to be in your face, in your lap, or wherever she can get close enough to be pet, hugged or held (even though she is pretty big). Lucy has very expressive eyes and sometimes she almost looks human which makes her extremely cute!

Christmas Vacation: Part 3

The day after Christmas we wanted to go to Disneyland but it didn’t work out. Instead, the four of us drove to L.A. to see the Griffith Observatory. It had been closed for 6 years due to remodeling so it was neat to finally be able to visit it. From the observatory grounds you can see the Hollywood sign, downtown L.A. and the ocean. It was pretty cool, but packed with people.

For lunch we ate at a popular hot dog stand called Pinks. They are known for their specialty hot dogs. Celebrities are also known to go there but we did not see any this time. The average wait for one of these fancy dogs is about 45 min to an hour. It’s worth it for the experience but it’s pretty greasy. For dinner we ate at a Mediterranean place called Zankou Chicken in Pasadena. It was really good too!

… next up is Lucy, the newest addition to the family

Christmas Vacation: Part 2

The next couple of days before Christmas we had fun catching up with Mom & Dad and playing Wii games. One of the nights we drove around looking at lights and watched in amazement as three houses joined together for a musical light show. Christmas Eve we attended a beautiful candlelit service at my parents church that ended at midnight. On Christmas day we finally got to see my brother and his wife. We ate turkey dinner, opened presents, played Wii and other games before Todd & I headed to Matt & Cherise’s house to stay the night.

… more to come