Snow Lake Hike

July 12, Tuesday, my friends, Annie Rose and Cly'ta, and I did an 8 mile hike to view Snow Lake! The lake is still covered in parts with snow and the ice on the lake is slowly melting! An absolutely beautiful site!! At the top, we enjoyed a picnic lunch and the sun was shining!! An absolutely great day!

Snow Lake, still inaccessible due to snow on the trail!

Frigid on the north side where Snow Lake stood, warm on the south side!

And so the hiking adventures began!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!

3 years ago, I married my best friend. Today, I continue to love and cherish you.

Wow, where have the last 3 years gone?? Everyday, I love you even more than the day I married you. How can that be? It is amazing that our love can continue to grow. I love that we love to do the same things. From traveling to just watching a movie, from hiking to trying new restaurants, from laughing to doing really goofy things, I love spending time with you. I appreciate you for you and what you do for our little family. I look forward to spending many, many more years together. Thank you Brandon for the past amazing 3 years! Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

Today, we celebrated our 3 year anniversary enjoying the sun watching the wash gush over the Snoqualmie Falls. Disappointingly, when we arrived we found out that PSE is doing some major renovations around the falls to their powerhouses. There is a huge crane on top of the falls, ruining the pristine view. And since the short trail to the base of the falls is closed until 2013 for renovation we searched out a new trail.

Marring the beauty with construction!
A newly remodeled lookout area!

So much water flowing!
Oh what I would have payed to be able to sit near those rocks, enjoying the spray of the falls during the 80 degree heat!

We drove further east to exit 34. We did a short 3 mile hike to view the Twin Falls in Olallie State Park. The falls create about 4 steps with the last step being a large 150 foot drop that sort of separates at the base to make it look like 2 falls, thus the name Twin Falls. The view is absolutely amazing!!! Thanks for an amazing day Brandon!

The beginning of the steps!

The middle of the steps!

The 150 foot last step! Twin Falls

Brandon's new friend, unfortunately we didn't have what the squirrel was looking for: food! Next time we'll come prepared!

Next up wine and a seafood feast. As it has become tradition, we had a seafood feast tonight. Brandon brought home 2 lobsters weighing 3 1/2 pounds each and a Dungenous crab. We had to use a hammer to crack open the lobsters claws. The lobster was just amazing...cooked perfectly with just enough sweetness to satisfy our taste buds!!!

Hammer ready!

Happy Father's Day!!!

For Father's Day, we took my dad up to the Woodinville Wineries. We went to his favorite winery, XSV and bought him a bottle of the 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon! He can't stop talking about how good this bottle is. We went to 4 or 5 others and he can't find anything that compares. Tom and Christine came up from Portland and Tom wine tasted for the first time!! Happy Father's Day to the best dad I know!


Sampling wine right from the barrel!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

For dad's birthday June 12, Brandon and I got tickets to the Tom Petty concert over at the Gorge. We packed our suitcases, and my mom, dad, sister, Brandon and I spent the night at our condo in Crescent Bar! We enjoyed the sun, sunbathing, gin and tonics, and freshly baked pizza lounging by the pool. As the sun set we drove the few minutes to the Gorge concert area and enjoyed the scenery and music! I think my dad had a great time!!! Happy Birthday Dad! I love you!!

An absolutely beautiful weekend!

Finding my way through the crowd with my favorite, kettle corn!

The next afternoon we drove home and had a salmon barbeque with extended family, complete with chocolate cake and bocce ball! My dad lit a huge bonfire and a neighbor down the street called the fire department, as she thought our house was on fire. I must say, (although my dad sprayed the nearby trees with water prior to starting the bonfire) it was an impressive one. The firefighters even said they as they were driving here from another call, and they had received phone calls 10 blocks away noting smoke. Needless to say, we put the fire out. We might have to have a smaller one next time....I hadn't even made a smore yet! Wow, 61 candles!!!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Bocce Ball, my dad's favorite

Started out innocently enough, just enjoying the fire!

Getting bigger...the heat feels great!

As the firefighters say goodbye...

Karen's Bachelorette Party (round 2)

On Sunday was Karen's hometown bachelorette party, complete with brunch and wine tasting. Brunch was held at Cafe Piroutte, a very good crepes place. After brunch a party bus whisked us away to Woodinville (lol, whisked is the very opposite of what the driver actually did) where most of us tasted the fine wines of Woodinville. There were 8 of us and almost all the girls had never been wine tasting. Karen had a great time. Wished the weather was a little nicer, (mist/rain most of the trip) but we still had a great time! Not too many pictures were taken, all of us forgot our cameras (I did manage to take a few with a 'borrowed' camera)

Ellie, Carly, Colleen, Katie, Karen, Kimberly, Annie Rose, Kelley

At Columbia Winery

Our Weekend Away!

This Memorial Day weekend, I was off work so Brandon and I decided to get away. We tried leaving right after I finished working Friday morning but Brandon wasn't quite finished with one of his important nursing papers. We still managed to get out of town early enough to not hit too much traffic!! Instead of taking 2 1/2 hours, it took about an hour extra. Brandon and I have been so busy working in addition to Brandon attending school that we thought a weekend alone would be great. Friday night we BBQ'd ribs and made a southwest salad. We did hang out in the evening with some friends that own neighboring condos. I hadn't slept since finishing work Friday morning, so Saturday Brandon let me sleep in until noon before he finally said, 'Kim?, you wanna get up?'. The weather Saturday was sunny, not too hot but definitely not rainy like in Seattle. We spent the afternoon with 3 friends soaking up the sun and drifting up the river on a boat. Very relaxing! Two of my nursing friends were over at their condo too. That night I drove up for a couple hours to say hello and catch up with Dawn and Dana! They are really great and I enjoyed catching up with them! The best part of the weekend? Our cell phones do not work. I truly enjoy not being interrupted by the sound of a cell phone ringing, especially Brandon's. It might sound weird, but I really enjoying not being in contact with the outside world for just a weekend!! LOVE IT! It was nice having him all to myself!!! I even forgot to take pictures of the weekend. Oh well.
Sunday mid-morning we left Crescent Bar and drove down to the Hood River area to meet Brandon's family at Bonneville Hot Springs on the Washington border. We had entered on the GPS we wanted the fastest route to the hot springs. I have to say the drive was gorgeous. The US-97 route had beautiful views of mountains, ravines, rivers. We even traversed the side of this hill on US-97 that looked like a one way street (without line markings) but it really was a 2 way high way. Luckily, it doesn't get much traffic. We were racing the clock because we were due to be in North Bonneville at 3pm for a wine tour that Brandon's sister was surprising her husband for for their 12th wedding anniversary. Our last leg of the trip was WA-14/Lewis and Clark Hwy, but all of the sudden we crossed the bridge into Hood River, Oregon (paying a toll to cross). Brandon and I were so confused, why if the hot springs are in Washington are we crossing into Oregon? We later found out the hwy on the Oregon border (I-84) is much faster than the Washington 1 lane each way hwy 14. Finally we crossed another toll bridge, The Bridge of the Gods, back into Washington and arrived at the hot springs resort at 3pm, checked into our room, changed, and were outside for the wine tour at 3:15pm. We went to 4 wineries, all in Oregon so they didn't have tax!!
Thanks Alicia for planning a great time!

At the Columbia Gorge Vineyard, Viento

At Marchesi Winery, an Italian native whose true passion is making fabulous wines.

Family photo!

Monday morning I was treated to a mineral hot springs bath, wrap and facial. The hot springs mineral water leaves your skin feeling so soft. Brandon received a massage and a pedicure. Thanks Tom and Nancy for our Christmas present!!!

Around 2 pm, we had lunch at this authentic Tex-Mex restaurant in Stevenson called Joe's El Rio, before heading home. We were lucky we didn't hit any traffic like we were thinking we would, all smooth sailing.