Christmas

Alisha says:

Part 1: Phoenix - We decided to head back to the sunshine for Christmas break. When booking flights a while ago I choose the least expensive non stop flight which ended up being a 6:00 am flight so by the time you plan in driving time, parking/shuttle ride, checking bags we ended up with a 3:20 am wake up call. The first thing we did in Phoenix was attend Allie's dance recital. It was pretty adorable watching them spin around. We followed that up with a nice hike with Tom in the Superstitions.

Part 2: Tucson - The next day we headed to Tucson where we had planned to spend a couple of days riding bikes. I was really disappointed when it rained on and off the whole first day we were there. We salvaged the day by visiting a few friends and taking a walk in Sabino Canyon. Luckily the rain cleared out and for the next three days we were able to ride a lot of my favorite old training roads. I was feeling the three consecutive days of three hour rides by the end but I loved every minute of it! I also decided to join some friends for a nine mile run on our last morning there. Dave's entire family joined us in Tucson and we visited the zoo and attended the Tucson Institute of Jazz concert to watch Daniel play the trumpet.

Part 3: Puerto Penasco, Mexico - We then traveled to Rocky Point Mexico where we were treated to a fancy top story condo at the Sonoran Sun resort. It was big enough to sleep all 12 of us and included a huge balcony complete with a hot tube! We had a wonderful time doing lots of activities. The beach was beautiful and filled with lots of fun shells to look at, we also enjoyed running along the beach in the mornings when the tide was out. Swimming in the heated pool and lounging in the jacuzzi with all of the little kids was great. Dave's favorite activity was renting atv's and driving them in the sand dunes. The first day we rented a four seater and drove around with Christine and Parker and then the next day we went back and rented an atv for Dave and I and Christine rented a four seater for her family. Dave even got a massage on the beach!

Part 4: Phoenix - It was back to Phoenix on Christmas Eve. We woke up on Christmas morning and went over to Christine's to watch her kids open their gifts. Anne and Venice cooked up a delicious meal that we enjoyed in the afternoon before being dropped off in the late afternoon at the airport for our return flight home. We did have a layover in Vegas where our next flight was slightly delayed. Dave was hungry so we got some airport food. We shared the exact same dish which didn't bother me but came back to haunt Dave as I woke up to him using the barf bag on the next flight, ugg. Luckily he was fine once he got it out of his system. Other than that last part we had a wonderful trip!

From 80 Degrees to Snow

Alisha says: We were greeted when we landed back in Seattle with lots of rain and the next day we woke up to a little bit of snow. Not to be deterred we layered up and went walking around some of the parks that we haven't checked out yet. We walked around Marymoor Park and Bridle Trails State Park.

Dave and I have been teaching primary basically since we moved up here. I love our little class of 5-7 year olds. They each have their own little personalities and are so cute. As part of the lesson they built a pretty good church out of blocks, Dave was impressed so we took a class photo of it.

Thanksgiving

Dave says: For the week of Thanksgiving we headed down to Arizona for some sunshine. We enjoyed temperatures reaching the 70s and even low 80s and Alisha was even wearing her shorts. We went on two nice hikes with my mom and dad. The first involved a 4x4 experience out towards WoodPecker Mine to the east and we found an old mine although it turned out to be a different one. We were looking for some amethyst which we didn't find but my mom did come across an old pocket watch in the mining ruins.

The second hike was southeast of Phoenix and took us into Hidden Canyon for a really nice hike in the canyon including a section that slotted down pretty tight. On Thanksgiving we made it out to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum which is one of my family's favorite spots. The desert is really pretty out there we had a nice picnic. We took a walk on some of the trails and my dad even caught a snake which Alisha decided that she wanted to hold (more brave than me).

It was fun to spend time with family. We had a big Thanksgiving dinner at my uncle's house. We also made it to Christine's kids soccer games and to one of Daniel's band concerts. We stayed with my grandparents who always treat us really well when we are in town.

We also made it down to Tucson for a day trip to visit the U of A and connect with many of the great professors and students that we are friends. I still have research projects with many people there. Also, my cohort members Mike and Scott have both recently received job offers so it was fun to be there to congratulate them. Overall, it was an exceptional week!

Veteran's Day Week

Alisha says: On Veteran's Day we took a drive to check out Snoqualmie Falls. It is a rather impressive water fall that is just off the I-90. Later that week we went to the climbing gym with Sarah and Chris. We have done this a few times and it is always really fun. I think we are going to take up climbing as a winter activity to do when it is cold and rainy. Finally to wrap up the week we did a nice hike to Teneriffe Falls. Part of it was frozen so there were some ice-sickles but still lots of water flowing. It was really pretty with the sun shining on it and you can get really close which seemed cool until chunks of the ice were breaking off and crashing down.

Rain

Alisha says: After squeezing in a few more fall adventures the rain has finally started to fall rather regularly. We have still managed to get out, it just requires a few more layers of clothes. We left the house on one particularly rainy day expecting to hike in the rain but to our pleasant surprise it stopped and we enjoyed a nice hike up Middle Fork in Snoqualmie National Forest and didn't see anybody else on the trail.

After about a week of rainy days we finally got a clear Saturday so we went walking around Discovery Park. It was nice walking down by the water and we saw a tiny seal resting on the beach, some giant dead jelly fish that had washed up on shore, and some seals/otters swimming along in the water. The views were great! That evening we got to go to a University of Washington football game. They ended up losing but we got to see a nice sunset.

Middle Fork - Snoqualmie

Discovery Park

University of Washington Football Game

Halloween Cake that I made

A Trip to Lopez Island

Alisha says: It has been a mild October her in the Northwest as it has started to rain some but it has not started to fall nonstop yet, but we all know it is just a matter of time so in the mean time we have been squeezing in a few more adventures that have been on our list of things to do.

One day after Dave got home from work we rented a canoe and rowed around the waterways by the arboretum. It was a beautiful evening and fun to be on the water and see things from a different perspective. We saw lots of ducks and beautiful fall colors.

I now look at the weather forecast almost daily and during the week it had rained on and off but it looked like Saturday was shaping up to be a rain free day so we drove to Anacortes and took our hard tail 29 mountain bikes on the ferry to Lopez Island. Lopez is the most rural of the major islands in the San Juan's and with it being the off season it felt especially quiet as we rode around. The scenery was beautiful as we spent the day pedaling through wooded forests, open farmland with sheep, cows and horses, and along the rocky coastline full of picturesque views. At the far end of the island we went out to Iceberg Point and enjoyed the view before riding back to the small village to have some snacks at the bakery.

An Adventure in Fungi

Alisha says: Who knew mushrooms could be so interesting? On our beautiful fall day 7.5 mile hike to Annette Lake we saw so many different types of fungi. We passed mushrooms of all sizes, shapes and colors. My favorite was a bright red one with white spots. It reminded me of a mushroom from the Super Mario Bros game that I played as a kid. Once we arrived at the lake we found a nice place to sit, ate our snacks and admired the view. On the way back we decided to take pictures of the cool mushrooms that we found and we were both entertained looking for a new type we hadn't seen.

 The Mario mushroom

 These were really white and flat. They looked neat against the green moss.

 This one was huge!

 This one looked like cauliflower.

 Tiny mushrooms

 Spotted fuzzy mushroom

 Purple mushrooms

 Orange coral looking fungus

 Lots of mushrooms