Winter!

We woke up Sunday to our second snowfall of the season, this one bringing more snow than the last. About 6-7 inches Sunday, however its still snowing today, Monday.
Our roommates car buried!
Kaena almost disappears in the snow!
We finished the night off with some awesome chili and wine by the fire with the puppies.
 

Hatchers Pass Season 2!

Since it was such a clear beautiful day on Saturday and we were so excited for winter-time sports, Ben and I headed up to Hatchers Pass after my midnight shift when someone told us there was some good snow up there. Turned out to be about 2 feet so far, just enough! So we spent the day cross-country skiing and snowboarding. Can't wait til it snows a little more so we can tryout our newly purchased Denali snowshoes!!!!!!



 

CO Baby Shower Trip

In early October, I went home to Colorado to attend my sister Amber's baby shower...she's due in late January. We still don't know the sex of the baby, hopefully by November! As soon as I arrived to my parents house, 15 deer came through the fence to say hello to me!
My mom and I had some mother-daughter time and drove up to Nebraska to see their new house. It is absolutely gorgeous!!!!! I woke up to coffee made and sat in this living room shown below to look out at a forest and even some deer where around. And only a few miles away from my grandparents, it was great to see them. Anyway, my parents are planning on moving into it next summer, where they will begin a bed and breakfast in this 4,000+ sq. ft. house with 40+acres. So put in your reservations now!!! :)
This is one of my gifts I bought my sister, it says "Polar Pals" on it, pretty fitting with me living in AK.
I had a great time with my mom. She was such a happier person this time, probably because she is making a huge effort to become healthier and lose some weight that she's wanted to for a long time. Her effort is paying off, already losing 20+ pounds! Shes looks great! (sorry for the cleavage shot!) :)
 

CO Baby Shower Trip cont'd

Amber's friend Lisa (shown below with mom-to-be!) threw Amber a great baby shower, complete with a scrumptious cake made by the same people who made Amber and Ty's wedding cake!
My mom made her first quilt ever!!! It turned out great, I'm sure the baby will really enjoy it
Some of the guest, my cousin Tonya and her princess daughter Claudia (she stole the princess title from me when she was born, I'm still bitter!) :)
The sisters....or soon to be Mom and Aunt Lisa
 

CO Baby Shower Trip cont'd

After the shower we went out to dinner with the family. Here's my mom and aunt Angie swinging their great=niece Claudia. I was jealous that I couldn't do that anymore!
Amber and I went and joined Ty, Ty's mom and friend, and one of their friends at Old Chicago. Man I miss Old C's!!!!! We enjoyed some pool, drinks and even some Dave Matthews on the jukebox!
I'm totally showing this picture to Ty and Amber's kid!!!!! Show them that their mom was sharkin at pool with them in her belly!!!! :) (she's an amazing pool player!)
How cool is this place?!?!?! Not only the name, but they have swings over the bar you can swimg on!!!!!!!!!! This place should go nationally, instead of just spoiling the freindly people of Ft. Collins, CO!
 

Fall Fest '06 in Alaska!

Ben and I decided to continue the annual Fall Fest that we started with all our friends in Hawaii for the last 2 years. Mike, Hilary, Vanessa, and Joe...we really missed you guys and were thinkin of you the whole time! Anyway, it was started in Hawaii because it really never was fall there, so we got together bringing our favorite fall dishes then ended it with a pumpkin carving contest. The tradition continues! I attempted Vanessa's scrumptious Butternut Squash Soup, turned out pretty good, not as good as her's though, oh and made my famous Cheesy Heaven! All in all, it was a great time had by all, about 20 people came and joined in our Hawaiian tradition.

Here's our new roommate Sergios, our friend Kevin, my coworker Jeff and his wife Audra, and Ben startin on their pumpkins!
Lisa and Andy Brown, and Mickey and Rhett thinking of their designs (actually Lisa was trying not to hurl, she's had a tough 1st trimester!)
Ben and I starting on our design: actually Ben dug the guts out and I had to think of and make the design while he was trying to get everyone to take a shot of Absinth!
Jeff and Audra diggin in, they ended up doing a great "FSU" design where they both attended!

Fall Fest '06 Cont'd.

Here is Sergios with his first attempt ever at carving a pumpkin, not bad considering he had quite a lot of spiked cider! :) He is from Cyprus so we thought we'd throw a bit of american holiday traditions at him. He refused to cut the top out and dig out the insides though, until Ben beat him at a game of foosball and made him do it...too funny!
Andy Brown's attempt at a "triple-point low" carving on his mini pumpkin. Weather weenie!!! (K, I admit it, I thought it was pretty cool too!)
Lining them up to get ready to judge, order from the left is: Andy and Lisa Brown's, Kevin's, Lisa and Ben's, Jeff and Audra's, Rhett and Mickey's, and Andy Brown's that he did the night before...cheater! :)
And the winner is.......the Beaver by Mickey and Rhett (second from the right). However they copied off a picture, so they said originality winner was Ben and I (the pumpkin skiing down the mountain, third from the left)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

Summit of Wolverine peak..

This is a shot of me on top of the peak, it was a pretty grueling hike with an elevation gain of 3500 feet and a distance of about 11 miles round trip. We had a great time and views that were unbeatable. It was windy and cold on the west face as we made our way to the top otherwise an amazing day for this really great hike!
This is a GPS toppo of our route, the red line is the path that we walked, about halfway up we saw about 5 moose in the bushes about a hundred yards away and wished we had brought our binoculars.
This is part of the view from the top, doesnt do it justice though. In the back of the valley is a hidden mountain lake called long lake.... we were surrounded by them on all sides!
Too bad the stupid disposable camera didnt focus on the right thing, but these were ice crystal towers on the first bridge we crossed. For more pics of the hike see the web album here....

wolverine peak sucessful summit attempt

 

the drive home from Lake Louise

Tazlina Glacier
Ben having fun with my Commander and testing its underwater ability (like the commercial) at Bonnie Lake, about half way home from Lake Louise
We fished some more at Bonnie Lake
Ben again having fun with my Commander and testing its off-roading ability (eeeeek!) and balance (the back passenger wheel is off the ground!)
 

Lake Louise continued...

Some gorgeous fall colors on the drive up there.
Lisa and Ben enjoying hot chocolate and a laugh
Fishin for some lake trout (yeah, it was pretty cold)
Some caribou crossed the road on our way home, our first ones we've seen outside of Denali National Park.