{Life in pictures}

Time has flown by! My last post showed a glimpse of the many adventures from January to June of 2011. Now we are already 9 days into 2012!! Again, I seem to forget to capture the memories in our blog...I will attempt to do justice to show our little life in pictures. Here goes...a bachelorette trip in Las Vegas to a central Washington wedding, hiking, 2 week long sessions at Camp Korey, work, a Labor Day weekend getaway, climbing to Mt. St. Helen's crater, an amazing work/play trip to New York, Seahawks games, my sister's engagement party, a work Halloween party, dinner clubs, a trip to Arizona {thanks to my grandparents], work, a Thanksgiving dinner in which to be very thankful, an awsome Christmas season with family and friends, New Year's Eve shredding some powder at Mt. Hood with coworkers...time seems to fly by and my only internet time seems to be on my marvelous phone. Oh yea, and I almost forgot...I decided to test out this continuing education idea with a 5 credit class at UW....the verdict's still out on whether to go back to school or not....

~ Thanks Brandon to a wonderful 2011, and I look forward to what 2012 will bring ~

{Jessica's Las Vegas Bachelorette Party!}

{Loved, loved Cirque du Soleil's Beatles' Love show!!!!}

{Dancing it up at the Ghost Bar at the Palm's Casino, complete with rooftop hangout}

{Keeping it classy with 40s on the strip}

{At the Wynn's night club, XS}

{A cousin's 21 year run}

{Happy Birthday Tyler}

{Hiking with Cly'ta and Annie Rose}

{We tried to walk through the 5.2 mile round trip Snoqualmie tunnel, but (as the gate indicates) we found out it had been closed for 2 years and was reopening in just 1 week!!!}

{Cly'ta and AnnieRose were ready to hop the fence, me? No way! This is me, sad faced.}

{So we went to Franklin Falls instead}

{July 25: Mom's birthday hiking extravaganza}

{1st Franklin Falls}

{Then, the newly reopened Snoqualmie Tunnel...creepy and eerie, and cool}

{Finally, our 4 mile hike to Lodge Lake over the Summit West skiing slopes}

{Returning from Lodge Lake back to the slopes}

{A little remaining snow for some sliding fun}

{Jessica and Brandon's Cave B Winery Wedding, July 30, 2012}

{Congratulations, wishing you a lifetime of happiness!}

{Tiffany and me}

{Brandon and me}

[My coworkers}

{An impromtu practice session for engagement photos at Pike Place Market}

{Congratulations Tom and Christine}

{Family reunion}

{Tiger Mountain hiking}

{Tiger Mt Summit;'PuPu Point, the launch pad for many paragliders}

{A little wakeboarding on Lake Washington}


{Happy Birthday Jaime! Umi and Belltown fun}


{2 sessions at the fabulous Camp Korey ~ Mitochrondrial week and Stanley Stamm heart week

Thanks Jaime for joinging me this year as a volunteer RN! You're the best; the campers, counselors and me loved you!!!}

{The famed food fight...}

{...and, of course, the fire department wash down}

{Getting in on a little carnival face paintin' fun}

{The super cool and scary ropes course and zip line}

{...and in between Camp Korey sessions: 3, 12 hour work sessions and a Pinning Ceremony for Brandon's graduation from Seattle University School of Nursing}

{Labor Day weekend fun}

{Boat rides to the dunes....and Brandon in his only weekend thinking he was a cowboy}

{Keeping it fun; nothing like warm wind in the hair}

{Christine and Tom celebrated with us}

{Happy 34th Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad}

{Our climb to the crater of Mt. St. Helens ~ September 6}

{the 1/2 way point: Monitor Ridge, elevation: 6500 ft}

{10 miles roundtrip, 4500 ft elevation gain over lava boulders and ash}

{Thanks for hiking with me Brandon, I love you}

{Simply amazing to look down into the crater that once was a grand mountain peak}

{Sounders game with Eric}

{Light rail to the game}

{Sounders' fans really have spirit}

{Celebrating Annie Rose's Birthday}


{Seahawks ~ Although we only went to 3 games (2 of which the Hawks lost) and they didn't make playoffs, we enjoyed going!}

{Tiffany and her husband, Kory, made an appearnce for 2 games, which always makes for fun times}

{My long time friend, Chrissy, ran into us at the game. Alicia and Doug made an appearance at this game}

{New York City work/play trip with Tiffany}

{Our first stop was to Times' Square where we found ourselves in the middle of Occupy Wall Street! We quickly removed ourselves}

{We toured Lady Liberty}

{View of the forever changed Manhattan landscape from Lady Liberty}

{The Brooklyn Bridge}

{Washington Park ~ again we ran into a smaller, quieter group of Occupy Wall Street protesters}

{Navigating the AMAZING Subway system}

{And looking good figuring it out....}

{Everything about Grand Central Station is AMAZING}

{Hundreds of trains and subway cars leaving a day...hidden from ground level}

{Going to dinner, ya know, New Yorkers have to eat}

{The lovely and expansive Central Park}

{Times Square}

{2nd attempt at Times Square: no protesters but a little rainy}

{In Times' Square, Tiffany even got her first taste of real sushi and became an instant fan}

{Last night out, a definite night to remember! The best martinis (extra olives) at a rooftop bar, with the Empire State building behind us. We even embraced the rain}

{A trip to New York wouldn't be complete without a visit to Ground Zero, such a surreal, quiet, sad place, but a beautiful memorial for the victims' families}

{Tiffany and I did learn a little too! We had 2 1/2 conference days in Queens studying Neonatal Intensive Care. We both took the RNC exam and passed. Thanks for a wonderful, unforgettable trip!}

{Christine and Tom's Engagement Party}

{My dad's sweet toast had my sister smiling from ear to ear}

{Some of the bridal party}

{We are so excited for you both as you make plans for a lifetime together}

{NICU Halloween Party}

{Archeologist finds 1st Caveman}

{Sweet Cherry Pie}

{No party is complete without the robot dance stylings of Tiffany and her sidekick Brandon}

{Halloween 2011}

{A CanCan dancer and a sailor: Ashley and Abby}

{A glimpse of Sedona, Arizona ~ November 2011}

{Our flight over the Grand Canyon}

{Devil's Bridge}

{Cathedral Rock climb}

{Pink Jeep Tour through the Red Rocks}

{Bell Rock}

{More nature hiking}

{Montezuma's Castle}

{Grand Canyon National Park}

{If you squint, you can see the Colorado River from our hike 3 miles down the canyon on the Kaibob trail to Skeleton Point}

{On our way out of the Grand Canyon Park it was feeding time for hundreds of elk. We saw about 15 elk eating here}

Thanksgiving came and went. Brandon and I were fortunate to share the special holiday with both our parents. Brandon's parents came over to my parent's house so we could share it with our loved ones together. The turkey was amazing, we had to cook 3 more over the following 3 days. I then made turkey soup from scratch....complete with the leftover pitcher of gravy...needless to say I gained 5 pounds that week. Oh well!

{We have much to be thankful for!}

{Sweet Cly'ta's Birthday}

Christmas was very special. I was able to enjoy Christmas free of work. A special time to enjoy with family. We went to Christmas Eve mass, enjoyed dinner, a gift exchange. The morning of Christmas my family came over for our traditional Eggs' Benedict and Champange breakfast. We closed out Christmas at Alicia's house for some more Christmas Cheer!!

{Merry Christmas}

{I really hated taking our tree down this year. I wanted to leave it up forever}

{Christmas morning}

{The Arnson family}

{Christine found her wedding dress. Many dress shops later, we found the one. And it is stunning!!!!! ~ No picture here because it is top secret ;) }

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

{New Year's Eve}

This NYE was spent alone, without Brandon. {Sad face here} He had to work in Vegas {poor him} so I made my way to Mt. Hood with some friends {Beth, Tiffany and Danielle} for some after hours snowboarding with a buffet dinner, dancing, fireworks and a champange toast to boot! It was fun with great snow conditions and a clear sky!!!! Thanks Tiffany and Kory for inviting me {and not making me feel like the 3rd wheel}

{Lift ticket: good from 3p -12 am!}

{Accidental twinsies for the after party, but fun all around}

2012

Wow!! We are well into 2012! And life is not slowing down. This past weekend, we headed to Snoqualmie Pass for some outdoor adventure thanks to the Mountaineers. We strapped on our snowshoes and headed up the slopes twice. We both loved it and can't wait to go again!!!!!

{1st time up}

{We had to go again!}

{Beth, Casey and her littles joined in the fun}

{Looking forward to what 2012 brings!!!}