Tillie!

My niece is back! And of course my little sister Ems & her husband Anthony.

They were all in the area yesterday & were able to come over & have dinner at our place.

Thanks again for coming up!

Beena

It's a little late to be posting about our weekend, but I had to get this photo up of Aleena, our friend's little girl. We spent Friday evening around the fire pit at the Walker's house, got in some mountain biking on Saturday, & road biked around Lake Sammamish on Sunday. I really enjoyed the rain--it made everything fresh & green again. The occasional sprinkles on Sunday were perfect during our 45 mile ride around the lake--just enough to be refreshing in the muggy weather, but not enough to make the roads wet.

I got to have some nice "me" time on Sunday morning, browsing Half-Price books & Paper Zone. I bought a few things at Paper Zone & am picking through all our photos, & will soon finally start making our wedding book! Only three years later. :)

New Bikes!!

We're now both fully equipped for mountain, as well as road. Over the past couple months, we each got new mountain bikes. Levi's: a gorgeous full suspension Truth Ellsworth. Mine: a full suspension Fuji Outland Comp with hydraulic disk brakes (just got it last night!). We also now clip-in in for mountain biking, though I'm working on my confidence at this.
P.S. This photo is not a good example of our safety record--we always wear helmets, I promise!

Family Estate

Last week I stopped by my grandparents' house & marveled at the resilience of the garden. With my grandma's passing & my grandpa's ailing health, the land has been neglected. It's amazing to watch nature take over & see the garden go wild. There are fox gloves half-again my height, tall grasses waving in the wind, & flowers blooming everywhere. And through it, the work & care of my grandparents is still very evident. The raspberry vines lean every which way, but their fruit is abundant. The dahlias have come up & are blooming among the dead stalks from last year. This visit, the chickens even left me two little surprises. :)

I hope to be a part of any future transformations of this land.

The future of energy

This is something to be pretty excited about. I just wish it was in Washington.

Cellulose Energy

Tiger Mountain

I went down Tiger today for the first time on my Truth. Hitting the trail at 8 am is a great thing. Still cool, hardly anyone else is there and you are done with plenty of day left. As far as the bike it is a sweet ride. Handles great in corners wants to roll over almost anything. But sometimes confidence is a bad thing when you read the line wrong but still think you can make the drop this happens.




I know still not as impressive as Liza's legs after running into a tree but I am trying here.


Can't wait for the next ride! gotta go ice.

HUGE GARAGE SALE!!

Come shop!

-furniture

-household items

-clothing

-baby/kids' stuff (blogging girls, there's a ton!)

-artwork

-kitchen items

-bedding

-books/music/movies

-arts & crafts supplies

-toys & dolls

-peacock feathers

-farm fresh eggs

-baked goods

Saturday, July 14th

9am-3pm

13014 - 7th Ave. NW

in Seattle's Broadview Neighborhood

All proceeds from your purchase will go directly to Heifer International, helping a family become self-reliant with livestock & training.

One person's junk is another person's treasure is another person's way out of poverty.

Snapshots of our week

We realized yesterday that we haven't been home much other than to sleep. Last night was a welcome time to get home early, play with the cats, & work on little projects (Levi washed the bikes & cars & I cleaned the entire kitchen). Since the Fourth of July we have...

-spent 2 afternoons lounging in Boo & Bet's pool

-played 2 softball games

-attended 3 BBQs & one dinner party

-been on Tolt Mountain biking by 8am on 2 mornings

-attended 2 biking events, the Redmond Dog Days Crit (that's our friend Z below) & the Heifer bike ride Summer is for playing, but we were glad to be home last night & looking forward to it again tonight!

Hope everyone is staying cool!

Watch out Denver!!

Last night we said goodbye to our cousin, Meredith. She is moving to Denver for school. We love you, Merebear--have an awesome time & come home soon!

Colchuck Lake

Saturday was our celebration of Bet's birthday & the four of us headed off into the mountains. We hiked up to Colchuck Lake in the Alpine Lakes region near Leavenworth--gorgeous lake, the closest we've seen to rivaling the color of the Kintla Lakes in Glacier.
Here's Levi with his energy food for the hike, a sheet-o-meat.

A friendly, little buddy on the trail. He even posed for us.

Levi & I created "Colchuck Crunches" on a flat rock out on the lake.

The highlight of the hike for me--a purple trillium in bloom (I was thinking of you, Chris!)