As many of you know it has been snowing very hard here in the PNW and Aaron has been hard at work. He has also had some time on the TV news because of this. He never says anything but you can see him hard at work in the background or driving the snowcat. Kind of fun to get to see him working. I may have seen him more on TV lately then in real life. Take care!
Q13 Video from Feb. 5, 2008
King 5 video Feb. 3, 2008
King 5 Exclusive video Feb. 4, 2008
KOMO Aaron and Tippi video Jan. 30, 2008
Friday, February 8, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Yike! What happened to the last quarter of 2007
Well I need to apologize, some how the end of 2007 passed and I did not keep up with our blog. So here is a recap and some pictures too!
In the beginning of October, Aaron and I went to the Dominican Republic to visit my Great Aunt Petrona and to see a beautiful country. My Mom also went with us for the first half of the trip. Late at night we landed in Santo Domingo and the first thing we saw was my Aunt's open arms. We drove in to the city and got our first expereince with DR driving. Basically not rules except "he who is the most aggressive wins". Thankfully my Aunt's son, Oscar drove the trip and quite well I might add.
The next morning we began to see what a beautiful place she lives in and how humid it is. We visited during the rainy season (also hurricane season) so hot and humid where the norm. THe food is fabulous and the fruit, crazy good. We visited the colonial city which was built by Christopher Columbus and governered by his son Diego. In the Colonial City is the oldest church in the new world. This church has been through everything including being the base for pirates at one time. It is stunning.
We also shopped for coffee, fun gifts, and Lari mar (great local stone). We spent a day at Boca Chica a beach just outside of the city and tour some of the facility that MLB teams have built for their farm teams in the DR. Fun fact, 76 major league baseball players are Dominican, wow.
One day we headed to the village where my Aunt's husband Nini was raised. Nini has a large family and many still live in the village. Some of his family made us lunch which was incredible. We try our best to communicate and very much enjoyed our time there. Once again we visited the local beach and swam even though it was raining. Humid weather is cool that way. That night we got to enjoy an incredible thunderstorm. I believe it rivaled those in the mid west.
If you stay at an all-exclusive resort you may not know what the DR is really like. It is definitely a 3rd world country trying to improve. Power and water are not given at all times in homes. Even when the home is very nice. People live off very little but love family and take care of one another. We were treated very well and many wanted to speak with us. Santo Domingo does not have as much tourism so we got to see how people really live.
After a week with my aunt Aaron and I bid them farwell and started on our own little adventure to the north side of the island. THe north side of the island has a lot of tourism so it is gear toward the western traveler and there are many expats. We stayed in a little town called Sosua. There were some beautiful beaches and great snorkling. We spent most of our time laying around and eating but did go on two guided trips. We went snorkling and got some great picture and then did some canyoning. Canyoning is walking, swimming and climbing up a stream gorge to then turn around and hike, jump, slide and swim back down. It was great fun. There is a video on my last blog entry that shows the trip. The hotel we stayed in was very laid back and simple. We were right on the beach and only paid $38/night. Pretty sweet. After 6 days it was time to return to the US. Below are links to photos of our trip. Enjoy!
General Photos Dominican Republic photos
Snorkling Photos-coming soon!
When we arrived back in the US we went to a wedding in Florida for Aaron's family friends, Bob and Jen Ross. The day before the wedding Duane, Peggy, Alexis, Wade, Aaron and I went to EPCOT Center. It was the International Beer and Wine festival, so we drank our way through the center. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to meet some many of Aaron's family friends from his childhood. I do not have many pics from the wedding but do from EPCOT so the link is below.
Pictures-EPCOT!
Right after Thanksgiving we did some skiing in the Teanaway (were I use to work at the horse camp). The skiing was awesome and a great start to the season. The first day was Aaron, Pete, Bram and Sarah. Then the next was Aaron, Sarah, and Me. If you want a peak into our trips check these links.
November 30, 2007 Bean Basin Photos here
December 1, 2007 Bean Basin Photos here
This year I got to be with Aaron on Christmas since it was not snowing. We spent Christmas on the westside of the mountain with our parents. Christmas Eve we went skiing with my sister and her husband and then had a great dinner with my family. We opened presents with my niece and nephew on Christmas morning then headed to Tacoma to be with the Opp's. It was a great couple of days. Below are some more pictures.
Christmas 2007 Photos here
On New Years eve we skied with our friend, Jonathon in the Icicle near Leavenworth. The avalanche danger was high so we stayed low and in the trees and got some amazing turns. After skiing we head to our friends John and Adrienne's house north of Leavenworth in Plain, WA. It was the prefect way to spent New year. Incredible atmosphere and good people made for a great night.
Icicle Ski Photos here
OCTOBER
In the beginning of October, Aaron and I went to the Dominican Republic to visit my Great Aunt Petrona and to see a beautiful country. My Mom also went with us for the first half of the trip. Late at night we landed in Santo Domingo and the first thing we saw was my Aunt's open arms. We drove in to the city and got our first expereince with DR driving. Basically not rules except "he who is the most aggressive wins". Thankfully my Aunt's son, Oscar drove the trip and quite well I might add.
The next morning we began to see what a beautiful place she lives in and how humid it is. We visited during the rainy season (also hurricane season) so hot and humid where the norm. THe food is fabulous and the fruit, crazy good. We visited the colonial city which was built by Christopher Columbus and governered by his son Diego. In the Colonial City is the oldest church in the new world. This church has been through everything including being the base for pirates at one time. It is stunning.
We also shopped for coffee, fun gifts, and Lari mar (great local stone). We spent a day at Boca Chica a beach just outside of the city and tour some of the facility that MLB teams have built for their farm teams in the DR. Fun fact, 76 major league baseball players are Dominican, wow.
One day we headed to the village where my Aunt's husband Nini was raised. Nini has a large family and many still live in the village. Some of his family made us lunch which was incredible. We try our best to communicate and very much enjoyed our time there. Once again we visited the local beach and swam even though it was raining. Humid weather is cool that way. That night we got to enjoy an incredible thunderstorm. I believe it rivaled those in the mid west.
If you stay at an all-exclusive resort you may not know what the DR is really like. It is definitely a 3rd world country trying to improve. Power and water are not given at all times in homes. Even when the home is very nice. People live off very little but love family and take care of one another. We were treated very well and many wanted to speak with us. Santo Domingo does not have as much tourism so we got to see how people really live.
After a week with my aunt Aaron and I bid them farwell and started on our own little adventure to the north side of the island. THe north side of the island has a lot of tourism so it is gear toward the western traveler and there are many expats. We stayed in a little town called Sosua. There were some beautiful beaches and great snorkling. We spent most of our time laying around and eating but did go on two guided trips. We went snorkling and got some great picture and then did some canyoning. Canyoning is walking, swimming and climbing up a stream gorge to then turn around and hike, jump, slide and swim back down. It was great fun. There is a video on my last blog entry that shows the trip. The hotel we stayed in was very laid back and simple. We were right on the beach and only paid $38/night. Pretty sweet. After 6 days it was time to return to the US. Below are links to photos of our trip. Enjoy!
General Photos Dominican Republic photos
Snorkling Photos-coming soon!
When we arrived back in the US we went to a wedding in Florida for Aaron's family friends, Bob and Jen Ross. The day before the wedding Duane, Peggy, Alexis, Wade, Aaron and I went to EPCOT Center. It was the International Beer and Wine festival, so we drank our way through the center. The wedding was beautiful and it was great to meet some many of Aaron's family friends from his childhood. I do not have many pics from the wedding but do from EPCOT so the link is below.
Pictures-EPCOT!
NOVEMBER
Right after Thanksgiving we did some skiing in the Teanaway (were I use to work at the horse camp). The skiing was awesome and a great start to the season. The first day was Aaron, Pete, Bram and Sarah. Then the next was Aaron, Sarah, and Me. If you want a peak into our trips check these links.
November 30, 2007 Bean Basin Photos here
December 1, 2007 Bean Basin Photos here
DECEMBER
This year I got to be with Aaron on Christmas since it was not snowing. We spent Christmas on the westside of the mountain with our parents. Christmas Eve we went skiing with my sister and her husband and then had a great dinner with my family. We opened presents with my niece and nephew on Christmas morning then headed to Tacoma to be with the Opp's. It was a great couple of days. Below are some more pictures.
Christmas 2007 Photos here
On New Years eve we skied with our friend, Jonathon in the Icicle near Leavenworth. The avalanche danger was high so we stayed low and in the trees and got some amazing turns. After skiing we head to our friends John and Adrienne's house north of Leavenworth in Plain, WA. It was the prefect way to spent New year. Incredible atmosphere and good people made for a great night.
Icicle Ski Photos here
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
27 Waterfalls, Rio Damajagua, Dominican Republic
This is an ad for a trip we did the day before we left the DR but did not have our camera. It was alot of fun.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Thorp Lake Overnight
Aaron is officially thirty-something. For his birthday, his parents, Duane and Peggy, my sister, Kirstan, my niece, Alex, and our dog friends Tippi and Gib all backpacked to Thorp Lake for an overnight trip. It was great fun. It was beautiful weather for the trip and the bug were minimal (not our luck last year). After hiking into the lake we took a gingerly stroll around the lake and explored some very cool places. The moon was like a spot light and cast very cool shadows in the woods. The next morning we packed up and headed to the lookout about a mile above the lake. Views from here are incredible. You can see Snoqualmie Pass, Mt. Stuart, the Leamh's and two volcanoes, Mt. Rainier and Mt. Adams. After enjoying the views for awhile we headed down and back to the vehicles. All the photos from the trip can be seen and saved at the link below. (I finally figured out how to hyperlink)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Look at our new additions!
So we have added 2 new friends to the family. OK one is just a shed but boy is the extra storage nice. And the concrete pad under it is a beauty. The other addition is an '86 VW Vanagon Syncro. For those of you that are not familar with Vanagons a syncro means all wheel drive. Our hunt for a new car took us from a new Prius to all the way to the vanagon. Pretty much the vanagon is the best vehicle for our lifestyle and after road tripping with Kirstan, we could not say no anymore. We did some searching and then this one showed up. It is beautiful and was very well kept (you should see what some of the other looked like for almost the same price). Tippie already likes it and say that it is her new favorite vehicle. Thanks for listening to my gush.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Aaron's little buddy (Preying Mantis)
Aaron found this guy while building our new shed. When he first saw him he had a bug in his mouth and one in each pincher. By the time Aaron got the camera he had eaten all his treats. Then he posed for multiple pictures and did not seem to mind that Aaron was there. Last night we show a second preying mantis at our friends house and he was white. They are very cool to watch. More photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown
Thursday, August 9, 2007
The Katmai bears
On July 22nd Aaron got to visit Katmai National Park which is where the brown bears feed on spawning sockeye salmon. There are bridges and platforms to view the bears but you are pretty close. These guys are pretty well feed at this time of year so they are not really interested in all the people watching. This is an area that Aaron has wanted to visit for awhile and this year there was finally time.
Many of the bears hang out on these falls, Brooks Falls, trying to catch their next meal. The top males sit at the foot of the falls and let the fish run into them. The other bears have to fight for their even after they get a fish.
This is one of the bigger males going to eat his catch!
To see more pictures go to http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/Katmai07
Many of the bears hang out on these falls, Brooks Falls, trying to catch their next meal. The top males sit at the foot of the falls and let the fish run into them. The other bears have to fight for their even after they get a fish.
This is one of the bigger males going to eat his catch!To see more pictures go to http://picasaweb.google.com/AKdogtown/Katmai07
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