Road trip to Spokane :)

Cameron and I headed to Spokane for the weekend to visit an old High School friend of mine. As a kid growing up, Spokane was the Big City for me, but Cameron has never been downtown and was looking forward to seeing it up close and personal~>rather than the drive by from I-90 as we are headed to St. Anthony. He enjoyed Riverfront Park and my friend and I had a great time catching up and visiting. I wish we lived closer together!

St Anthony 2011

Leavenworth in The Spring

Cameron and I made a quick trip over to Leavenworth to meet up with a friend who bought some Serama's from us for her daughter. (it always goes back to something farm-related doesn't it??)

Since he has his first girlfriend.. I thought it would be fun to invite her along. I think they had fun, and I had a GREAT time stalking them and taking pictures.. much to their chagrin. ;)

**Updated July 2011**

Alas.. young love doesn't go on for long very often. Cameron decided he wanted to be a single man again.

things i love in EW

my poppops wood shop

the house

the ski hill

frosting trees

my son on top of the ski hill

The Valley

my poppop working in his shop

Did I mention The Valley?

and Liz of course

oh.. and the ski hill.. again.. --the views are amazing--

A peaceful weekend with PopPop

A beautiful snowy morning begins ...

Lizzie watches the Sun Rise..

My PopPop.. :)

Cameron mastering the Peanut at the Loup **edited, 'cause this is actually the Junior.. **

Then the Junior run...

By Sunday.. he pretty much has this Snowboardin' thing DOWN! A friend of PopPop's was able to spend an extensive amount of time teaching him and snowboarding with him most of Saturday afternoon. I think this got him going in the right direction for sure!

My heart belongs to EW! :)

Cameron and I spent last weekend at PopPop's. It was a really good weekend.. honestly, I have to say I was a little apprehensive. I have not been 'home' since my Momma's Memorial in September 2009. Much much too long I will admit. Subconsciously avoiding it by being "too busy". PopPop has been over here actually, more than I have been over thataway... It was different to be home with just us, but it was good, very good to be there. He also sent me off with something very important to me! Seeds! Seeds that he and my mom have saved. They are avid seed savers and it is SO cool to have seeds that they have been growing in their garden. What a legacy!

Thanksgiving 2010

Spent in Coos Bay, Oregon as usual! :)

We had a great time once we got there! Getting there was a challenge however, as we had just had a beautiful snow storm come thru and everything was FROZEN!

We have a friend who raises turkeys -- so we got to have our first 'home grown' turkey.. it was fabulous, and we will never get store bought again! :) Nathan made a delicious brine, it smelled WONDERFUL.

Every year we are there, there is a group of Sled Dog people--finally got some good pictures of them this year.

Whatever the weather may bring -- we always enjoy hanging out with our besties in the sand!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I hope that this Christmas Season has found you all healthy and happy!

I honestly have had a difficult time 'getting into the Season'.. Christmas REALLY snuck up on me this year! I didn't even put together our Yule Log, which is one of the things I really enjoy--the symbolism behind it for our family. *update* I actually did do one~I couldn't NOT have one!

I DID however get the chance to Bring in The Greens on a beautiful moonlit night. That was very peaceful to me and reminded me of the beauty of Christmas. :)

Here - Tiger is enjoying some Christmas Greens and Decorations.

We did our usual Christmasy things--going to Leavenworth is always a highlight for our family. Some of our very good friends went with us, as well as Cayla this year. It snowed and snowed and SNOWED while we were there. It was absolutely GORGEOUS!

I managed to squeeze in Cameron's annual Santa picture..he is such a good sport! In late November we always get the 'reminder card' and I showed it to Cameron and said "wellll, are ya ready this year?" He just smiles and says "Yup!" :) I think he actually likes the progression of the pictures as well.

We have all been really sick with this upper respiratory Thing that just hangs on and on.. Cameron has had it going on almost 4 weeks now. He was in the midst of it during our weekend scheduled to go hunt our tree. So he stayed home and slept, Nathan and I went and found a great tree. It was fun.. and it was nice to spend some time with just each other in the middle of the hustle and bustle!

*this is one of the oldest ornaments on our tree--belonged to my Gramma*

Christmas Eve was spent with close friends.

And Christmas Dinner--at our house with more close friends. Nathan BBQ'd a coupla prime ribs--they were delish!

And NOW.. the New Year is upon us! I can't hardly believe it, how the time keeps moving along so quickly.

'good bye kind year, we walk no more together,

but here in

quiet happiness

we part'

sarah doudney