Yet another weekend speeds by!

On Friday, April 23rd, we flew into Denver for a long overdue visit with my brother, his wife, their 2 daughters, son-in-law, and darling grand-daughter.  We were greeted and picked up from the airport by my brother, Gene, his wife, Sue, and their youngest daughter, Jeanice.  Jeanice had just picked up the newest resident of her household, a two and a half year old Boston Terrier that she has rescued and named Pickle.  Pickle's very severe underbite and goofy looks with her tongue hanging out undoubtedly will draw lots of attention and lead to many hours of entertainment.  Meet Pickle...

It didn't take long the following morning for little Abby, to get her great uncle Phil busy building her train track for Thomas so they could play with her trains.  I think Uncle Phil kind of took over though...

That first morning we were there, we pretty much spent the day fairly close to home to begin with.  Some of the gang decided they wanted to check out a couple of breweries after we had driven into Greeley to see my brother's home and then seen Jeanice's home complete with new kitchen remodel.  We let the brewery touring group go do their thing while the rest of us waited for Abby to catch a nap.  After Abby woke up we drove into Ft. Collins to meet the rest of the gang and had a fun dinner at a buffet pizza place close to the campus named Woody's.  Great food and a fun time!  From there we went back to Jenna and John's place (our nesting spot for the weekend) so Abby could get to bed.  We sat around the dining room table and played a family game, which we don't get to do nearly often enough and is always fun!  Alas...all good things must come to an end, so we all turned in for the night with the knowledge that we were going to get up and explore Denver the next day.

After breakfast the next morning, cousin Melanie and Cousin Katie had fun putting together an outfit for Abby to wear...even if it took a little extra effort to get the cowboy boots on...

Our first destination of the day was the Celestial Tea Factory in Boulder, where we learned many very interesting facts and were blown away to know that all of the Celestial Tea that we see on store shelves in many countries all over the world is made right there in that factory...it's the only one!  And it only takes 10 people to run the factory when it's in production.  They have over 100 flavors of tea, which you would never guess by the meager varieties we usually see on our grocery store shelves.  At the factory they have a tasting room where you can request and taste any of those 100+ flavors you want.  Needless to say, we spent longer there than we had planned...

Eventually we got our fill of tea though, and pushed on to Denver.  We ate at a very good, but very loud Mongolian Grill there and then explored the old town area a bit.  One of the things we got to see that was a real treat for us (since we are big fans of the musical "The Unsinkable Molly Brown") was Molly Brown's house in Denver...                                                                                         

We had plans to cook a big Mexican foodfest at Jenna's house that evening, so we headed back up to Windsor soon after that.  While thinking Abby might get a nap in the car, she talked and sang all the way home and kept us very entertained.  Our Mexican meal was delicious and afterwards we all settled down and and watched a good family movie.  Once again it was time to call it a night.  We planned on having a quiet, layed back morning with a leisurely lunch the next day, before heading for the airport to come home.  We said our goodbyes to all the residents of John and Jenna's, including Timber...

and Tonka...

We also had to say goodbye to Melanie and Luke, who were heading out the next morning to continue their roadtrip to their new home in North Carolina.  Gene and Sue gave Katie and us a ride to the airport.  We said goodbye to the Denver skyline as well...

...and soon were up, up, up in the air heading back to Seattle...hoping to make it back to Denver sooner the next time...and maybe when the weather is a little more predictably warm.  It was a fun weekend and as always...sped by way too fast!

Spring Has Sprung!

What is it about sunshine and tulips?  It really signals spring and offers hope for a beautiful summer.  That's what I got to experience on Sunday when the kids and I went up to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.  We started our excursion out with a stop in Everett to show Melanie and Luke  Katie and Phil's house.  We then jumped into Phil's car and were bound for our first stop on the way to tulip heaven.  What trip up there would be complete without a stop at the 48 flavors ice cream stand?  It doesn't get much better than a homemade waffle cone stuffed full of creamy huckleberry ice cream.  YUM!!!

After that we motored on to our second, and ultimate destination...Tulip Town.  The tulips are absolutely gorgeous right now.  If you haven't made it up, you should definitely try to get there.  Here are some pictures to get you primed to go.   ;)

                                                     Row after row of glorious color!

                                                                     Girls Rule!

                                                              brother-in-law bonding

                                                          So perfect they look plastic!

                                                                   Melanie and Luke

                                                                      My favorites!

                                    Me and my girls...well 2 of them!

                                                             Katie sneaks a kiss in  :o

                                                                 Stripes of beauty

                                                                  Pretty Purple

When we finished soaking up the beauty of the tulips combined with the warm sunshine, we drove on in to La Conner. We had a nice little walk around the town, which wouldn't be complete without a stop at the local bakery.  We bought dessert for our dinner, which Phil was planning on preparing once we got home.   True to form, Phil fixed a feast of T-bone steak and seafood (for those that enjoy it).  The steak was perfection and I took everyone's word that the crab legs and prawns were also delightful.  Katie fixed a yummy salad to go with it all.  

With our tummies beyond full, we drove back home to digest the fabulous day!  Why must the weekends speed by so quickly?

No...I haven't fallen off of the face of the earth!

Bet you thought I would never update this thing! Well, it turns out I was just waiting for a special event to come along...my youngest daughter, Katie, is engaged. You know how they say all girls want to find a man just like their father? Well, I don't know that Katie's criteria was that exactly (although they are alike in some ways), but she did find herself a man with the same name as her dad. Katie and Phil have been together for over 3 years and he finally popped the question while we were all on a trip up to Alaska to visit Megan and RJ. We made an extra long weekend of President's weekend and on the night of February 13th we gained a future son-in-law. We are all very excited about it.

We had a lovely 4 days up in Fairbanks. It was beautiful up there and everything went just as Phil Kang had planned. He was determined to propose under the Aurora Borealis and we weren't sure if it was going to cooperate, but it was out every night that we were there. Turned out that the view of it was best right outside Megan & RJ's back door. The first day we were there we took a walk through Creamer's Field, where the snow sparkled just like fields of diamonds.

One day while we were there, we took Katie and Phil to see the little town of North Pole, Alaska. I'm not sure they were impressed, but we did all get to take advantage of the "Santa's Sleigh" photo op.

Now that we've had our taste of winter, including some of the most beautiful sunrises ever...

...we are looking forward to spring and a visit from Melanie and Luke as they move on for the next adventure in their lives...calling North Carolina home. They will be coming the first week in April to pick up their new car and spend some time with family. They will head out on their road trip to North Carolina around the 2oth of April and then Phil and I are flying to Denver to meet them and spend the weekend (April 23-26) with our Colorado family. That's about all the news for now. Work has been far too stressful to discuss, so I will focus on the positive and will update again when there is more good news or vacation pictures to share.