Doug helping decorate the house. Isn't he cute?! And there's our tree in the corner.
The finished product.
We didn't get hardly any pictures on Christmas but Doug managed to get one of me opening my presents. We had such a wonderful holiday together. And we both had off of work which was really nice. We hope you all had a great Christmas as well!
Lizzie inspecting the gingerbread before the great work is constructed
Abby securing the walls
The yard is underway. That Christmas tree in the front was Lizzie's work of art.
The finished product...kind of. We never could get the roof to stay on so here Mike and Doug are holding it in place to get a picture of the finished effect.
A view from the top. Whew! I never knew making gingerbread houses could be so tiring! I was exhausted by the end but we had a lot of fun.
As you might be able to see from the picture above there is a pedestrian walkway on the bridge. I wanted to get some good pictures of the breathtaking view so I ventured out onto the bridge while Leah stayed in the car with the kids. I didn't make it too far because it seems I am more afraid of heights than I thought. But I did manage to get some good shots.
Shot from the top of the bridge.
Oliver on the beach.
Next Leah took me up to Anacortes which is on Fidalgo Island, one of the islands Deception Pass runs between. I got another beautiful view of the Sound.
Cutie Marie and me.
The other great part about my visit was that I got to be there on Halloween. The kids and Shane went out to trick-or-treat while Leah and I stayed home to give out candy. I was a hunch back and Leah was a witch. At twenty five I figure my trick-or-treating days are over and the greatest satisfaction I can hope for is to scare the little kids that come to get candy. I wasn't very successful by the way. Kids nowadays are too worldly-wise. Ah well. Doug embraced his youth and went out trick-or-treating with Abe and Johnny. He was very glad when I came home the next day. But he did tell me he got an unprecedented amount of homework done while I was gone :) All in all it was a very relaxing trip and a much needed break thanks to Leah and Shane who were so considerate and hospitable.
Here's Doug making pancakes for breakfast.
These are the Stewarts and the Grants (at least some of them) who we went camping with. The Stewarts are new in our ward so it was nice to get to know them. You can see our green tent and white ride in the background.
We camped at Elk Neck State Park in Maryland which is our favorite place to camp around here. It's right on the Chesapeake Bay so you can camp and hike right next to the water. It was really cloudy but still pretty. We were hoping that the most of the leaves would have turned because it is so pretty there in the Fall, but for some reason a majority of the trees were still green.
There is a lighthouse at the park that you can climb up, and a really nice hike along the bay to get to the lighthouse. Doug and I think we are going to make this Fall camping trip to Elk Neck a yearly tradition. Last fall we went with Shana, and our friends Derek and Justin.
The lighthouse is on a big cliff. Since it's so high up you get a great view of the bay. All in all we had a great time, especially since we made some new friends. Next week I will have pictures of my visit to Seattle. We hope everyone is doing well!
And one of the really small ones.
Mill Grove
The woods at Mill Grove
So all in all life is going good. We love and miss you all! Please keep us updated on everything that's going on in your lives.
Shana turned 22 this past week. YAY! Mom and Dad had a birthday dinner for her at their house on Sunday.
Mike's 24th birthday was the day before Shana's so we sang to them both.
The cake was certainly big enough for two birthdays. It was a delicious German Chocolate Cake made by Liz. Aren't they a cute couple?
Doug and I chillin' on the couch.
Shana and Mike chillin' on the couch.
After dinner Lizzy played the piano for a little while people danced.
Johnny preferred dancing with Melissa :)
Here's a picture of the mountains as we headed into Salt Lake. Our first stop was Provo where we stayed with Miah and Missy and stayed up late every night playing games to our hearts delight. We also got to see Micah and Erin every day we were there which was wonderful. Micah made us a "bread" themed dinner in Doug's honor: bread salad, chicken with bread sauce, cheesy garlic bread and chocolate bread pudding (made by Erin). It was delish.
We went with Miah and Missy and their kids to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Salt Lake. It was really nice to see them. Grandma made Isabelle her own hat, scarf and slippers which she wanted to wear right away. What a cutie pie!
Grandpa and Isabelle.
Me and Joseph. I miss my nephews and nieces :( While we were visiting Grandma and Grandpa our camera broke so the rest of the pictures are taken with a camera phone and didn't turn out so great.
After three days we went to visit Doug's Mom and stepdad Matt in Providence, UT which is right next to Logan. They took us on a picnic up in the mountains in a place called Tony Grove. It was so beautiful. Unfortunately the camera phone pictures don't do justice to the place. I think I appreciated the beauty of Utah more on this trip than I have on any other in the past.
A view from the other side of the lake at Tony Grove.
Here we are at Bear Lake which is right on the border between Idaho and Utah. We drove to there after our picnic. The view was breathtaking.
Bear Lake.
After our visit to Providence we packed up again and headed north to visit Doug's Dad, stepmom Jennie, and sister Bonnie in Weston, Idaho. The drive up was really pretty.
Here are Doug and I at his Dad's place. We had a lot of fun playing games and talking with Doug's family. Also we got to go to the hot springs in Preston which was something I'd never done before.
