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My mom has a way of finding unique gifts. This year she gave us a puzzle of our new house. It brought me hours of entertainment. I enjoy puzzles, but this one was different. It did not come with a picture on the front of the box. Instead, I had to use my knowledge of Tacoma to put it together. When I started, I had no idea how big of an area the puzzle covered so putting together the edges was tricky. One I figured out Commencement Bay (lower right corner), Brown's Point (upper right corner) and Point Defiance (upper left corner) I felt oriented.

I also knew that our house was designated by a house-shaped piece in the middle of the puzzle.
I forget how close we live to the water. I need to visit it more often.

I felt very successful and satisfied when I completed it and now I don't want to take it apart.

While I worked on the puzzle in January, I was longing for winter. So much so that Cyrus and I took a spontaneous trip to Leavenworth for 24 hours of 0 degree temperatures and snowshoeing. I had stopped hoping for snow this season since the past few times it has been predicted left nothing on the ground. This morning, I found reason to hope again! We woke up to a winter wonderland - Tacoma style. Plus, no school for me and 2-hour late start for Cyrus! I love being a teacher on snow days. A friend of mine loves them because they are guilt free - you can't do anything but stay home and play.

It snowed all morning, and then the sun came out. It will all be gone soon...

I wish it looked like this all winter

Golden

Cyrus is 27 years old today. We started the weekend festivities with a game of Settlers of Catan with Abby and Tim I. and birthday cake.

Our favorite 'southern' food is Red Velvet Cake. Kelly introduced us to this gem a few years ago at Thanksgiving. At Cyrus' request I attempted to make my first Red Velvet Cake. Luckily, Kelly helped and the cake turned out great. The frosting needs to be improved ... so there will be a next time.

We celebrated again Sat. night with dinner at Cedar's...Cyrus' favorite restaurant. And to continue the food theme - Cyrus hosted a pancake party on Sunday afternoon. Friends came, Cyrus flipped pancakes, I made coffee, we ate and had a great time.

Thanks for the great Birthday hat Ian!

Tradition

I can still picture the neighbor's house across the street from when I was in grade school. It was a blue, two-story house with black and white trim and a long front porch boasting white columns. However, the image in my mind also shows the house covered in snow, too many holiday lights wrapped around those pillars and lawn ornaments on the roof and the lawn. Each year the newspaper would print a list of houses to see with the best light decorations. I don't remember if our neighbors ever made the list, but I am sure they were trying to. While I am not fond of lawn ornaments I have always loved how lights shine through the snow. It's magic.

Then, I moved to Tacoma. I miss the snow. It never really feels right to have a winter pass without skiing, sledding, ice skating, frozen eyelashes, shoveling... But the tradition of Holiday lights is strong on the West coast - especially on our block! We definately felt like we missed the memo on holiday decorations. We let our neighbors light up the block instead. But it doesn't look the same without snow.

Lights in Tacoma are meant to be at the zoo. And that's where we go see them every year. The Point Defiance Zoo sets up a beautiful display every winter. We go, ohh and ahhh, drink hot coco, weave through crowds of children and strollers, see all the favorite displays and go home happy. Here a few pictures from this years trip.

I go every year just to stand in front of this tree.

Cyrus, Abbie, Corinne and Ryan in our matching jackets

Play

About 5 months ago two babes entered our life.

The first came in the form of an adorable labradoodle puppy named Miles. Lucky for us, we took care of Miles for 2 of the first 4 weeks he was in his new home. We are his surrogate parents. He knows our names, knows our house and we like him a lot.

A few weeks later, Micah joined our Tacoma family.

He's quite adorable too.

These two babes have brought us much joy and laughter in the last 5 months. Both their parents are a few of our favorite people and we love the new additions.

Last weekend I had a "you know life has changed" moment. On Saturday, Steph, Kelly and I went snowshoeing, with Miles and Micah. My car was full of snowshoes, boots, backpacks and now a car seat and a dog! The trip was fantastic. It had snowed 2 feet the night before so we had plenty of fresh snow to trudge through. Watching Miles in the snow for the first time was hysterical.

And Micah in his snowsuit was a precious sight.

Happy.


I have played more, laughed more, and taken more days to spend time with people (and dogs) since the arrival of these two guys. For that, I am thankful.

Exploring

Needing to work off our turkey dinner and celebrate Abby O's birthday we went to Kopachuch State Park on Friday morning. The air was crisp, the paths covered in leaves and the views were bright and blue. A great place to go exploring.

Abbie & Miles, Mom & Theo

Theo, Mom, Miles, Abbie and Dad looking at the Olympic Mountains

Having out-of-town visitors always pushes us to do new things. We had never been out to Kopachuck, but I want to go back already. After a leftovers lunch, we went downtown Tacoma to the Glass Museum. Theo wore his red service dog cape and was great with all the people around. The best part was watching a team of glassmakers attempting the largest blown glass Christmas ornament. There were about 12 people in the hotshop along with a teacher to explain what they were doing. They made a pink ball that was 32 inches in diameter - the largest one ever made. The next day another team was going to try to beat their record. All creations are being donated to Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma.

Thanks for a great weekend Mom and Dad (and Theo).

Thankful

Over the past few years I have developed a love of cooking. A combination of fresh vegetables from the farmers markets, Stephanie's talent, and Sunday night dinners have inspired me to become a better cook. Plus, I find it relaxing. Now, I really only cook two nights a week, but I spend time reading magazines and looking for new recipes to try. So, after hosting many friends for dinner over the past two years I was not hesitant to host my first Thanksgiving dinner. I had the most fun collecting recipes for the menu.

Afternoon Snacks
Apple Brie and Pecan Quesadillas
Oven-Roasted Canned Tomatoes on Toasted Baguettes

Dinner
Spinach salad with blue cheese, cranberries and pecans
Squash pull-apart rolls
Mashed sweet potatoes and goat cheese
Herb and Sausage stuffing
Orange-Sage Roasted Turkey and orange sauce
Wine

Dessert
Apple-Cranberry Walnut Crisp
Vanilla Ice Cream
Coffee

My parents joined us from Minnesota to see the new house and spend the weekend with us. Another Minnesotan friend, Alison, joined us for dinner. We also had Theo, my mom's new puppy. He is a service dog - in training. And we had Miles, Steph and Reid's dog.

Our small house was full.

Theo

I was thankful Mom was here to help with everything. We cooked Wednesday afternoon and most of Thursday. Everything tasted delicious. Hosting our first Thanksgiving was a success.

Theo and Miles wanted some turkey too.

Now that the occasion is over, my thoughts:

1. Cooking a turkey was fun and actually not too difficult.

2. There is really too much food on the menu to enjoy it all.

3. Thank goodness for leftovers.

4. It's too much for one person to do (or a novice and her mom). I think our Sunday night dinner crew has it best. The host is in charge of the main meal and guests bring the rest. Next time I am inviting more guests!

5. I respect all those who host Thanksgiving so much more now that I have done it myself. So, thank you mom and dad, aunts and uncles, grandparents and friends who have hosted my Thanksgiving dinners of the past 25 years.

I am thankful for new experiences, family, beautiful fall weather, friends, good food and puppies.

Quinault

Fall was full. It often felt overwhelming between making our new house a home and working with new students. Many days we were both tired and crabby which may be why I haven't added a post in awhile. But now that I sit down to share stories from the past few months I am reminded that life is not too hard. Work is part of life. Owning a home is good. We have great friends.

Steph and I in the forest

Earlier this fall we escaped Tacoma for a rainy weekend with some of our favorite friends. We spent the weekend at Lake Quinault Lodge in the Olympic National Forest. The Lodge curves with the lake, poised at the top of a hill to maximize the views.

You can see the smoke rising from the lodge's fireplace. We spent most of the rainy weekend inside, next to the fireplace, with all the other guests. We ventured outside for a few hours each day, only to return to the warm fire. Sunday morning I urged the group to go for a hike in the pouring rain. It was one of those epic adventures where we hiked a lot longer than we planned, we got a bit lost, we were soaking wet and dreaming of the fire at the lodge. But it is my favorite memory from the weekend. I am lucky my friends like to adventure.

Cyrus and I after the long, rainy hike. Happy to be out of the rain.

Project #1

Our basement has a separate entrance and is finished to be rented out as an apartment. So, through a posting on Craig's list we found a great renter to live downstairs. Our first major project was to put in a window so the place meets fire code.

Cyrus did a great job. I am so lucky he enjoys projects. That was a major reason we wanted to own a home.

Fire Escapes

Cyrus recently starred in a short music video directed and produced by our friend Tim. You'll notice my name in the credits too, but the only direction Tim gave me was to be in love with Cyrus - so this is not acting. It's a great song, great story, great filming, and the actor is so hot!

I don't know how to put the video on our blog - nor do I have permission to do so. But you can check out Tim's blog and see it for yourself. His wife, Abby, posted it on Sept. 26. Check it out.
http://www.tabbyeyes.blogspot.com/

Theatre

Last week was the first week of teaching classes for both of us. I will let Cyrus fill you in on his own stories, but here is one of my own.

Along with feelings of excitement and anxiety that go along with the first week of school, I felt sad. I thought it was because the we didn't close on the house on time, but on Thursday I realized I was mourning the loss of my classes and students from the past year. You see, I have had the unique opportunity of teaching almost the same group of students for two years. And the classes that were not repeats were the Cambridge classes and we had a special bond of forging the first year of the program successfully. I missed the students I knew and that knew me. It was tough to have 120 new students in my room and not know any of them. And they don't know me. I am sure I felt this way my first year but I was feeling too many other things to know the difference. Apparently this is not an atypical feeling for teachers so it has been nice to talk with my colleagues. I look forward to knowing this years students as well as that first group. And I think I made my first breakthrough with them.

Last Friday I taught a safety lesson that was a bit unusual. I started class by telling students that due to all the accidents we had last year (a harmless fib) our principal is cracking down on lab safety and has hired someone to give a presentation to every science class. The presenter's name is Ms. Cary Less and they need to take notes as they watch her demonstration about safety. Then I went in the hall, dressed up in a long black wig, fancy jewelry and all and came back in with a new voice. I acted as Ms. Cary Less and demonstrated a simple lab. I monologued the whole thing, exagerated whenever I could, made large sweeping motions and made a ton of mistakes. Some kids stared at me and admitted later they weren't sure if it was me at first. Some kids tried to get me to break character. Many of them laughed at me and with me. So after the skit I go outside, get out of my costume and come back in. They had to list all the things I did wrong and from there we made a science safety contract that we should use for lab protocol. It was a fun day. I think it broke the ice and hopefully they understand that I want class to be fun and relaxed as we learn. I'll let you know what happens.

Big News

Roma grape tomatoes and basil from my new garden.

I have three tomato plants of different variety.

From left to right: cherry tomatoes, better boy hybrid tomatoes and roma grape tomatoes. Plus the basil plant down in front.

My confession is that I did nothing to harvest such beautiful food. I owe everything to Liz, the planter and caretaker of the garden. Liz left me this beautiful garden since Cyrus and I bought the home Chad and Liz owned!

Welcome to our new home. What we love so far is that with the home also came a garden, a beautiful front yard and a great big tree.

The tree shades the front yard so it is the perfect place to sit morning, afternoon or evening. We love it. I am sure we will use it often. Having a bit of outdoor space of our own was a big reason we wanted to own a home and so far this one is working out well. The front yard is also conducive to meeting neighbors. So far we have met our neighbors on either side of us and two families across the street. As soon as we open the door there is someone on the sidewalk waiting to introduce themselves, tell us about their family and all the other people on the block. I am feeling well informed and between the two of us are trying to remember everyone's name. It's a nice change from our apartment where we've lived for a year and had a hard time catching neighbors on the way in or out of the building.

The house is old (1912) and it has fir floors, tall ceilings and it's just the right size (small). We do have room for guests, so when you're in the area stop by! Pictures of the inside will come soon.

Sunday Night Dinners

The History:
Four years ago, we had just graduated from college and spent our second summer in Canada as mountain guides for Beyond. I spent the month of September living in Montana and Cyrus started coaching the UPS crew team. In October I returned to Tacoma and lived in an attic apartment with Stephanie. And we met Beth. Beth was an intern for TCM that year. The three of us began to spend every Monday night together. We would have Beth over for dinner and then sometimes walk to Frisko Freeze for milkshakes and we talked all night. We met every Monday until Beth left Tacoma and I went back to Beyond for the summer.

When Cyrus and I returned from Beyond after our third summer we celebrated Steph and Reid's marriage (3 years tomorrow!) and we began dating. Steph and I continued our Monday night tradition, now including Reid and Cyrus. The four of us ate dinner together regularly through the first year of their marriage and our dating relationship.

Our Current Group:
In the past two years our dinner group has grown. Jacob and Kelly, Abby and Tim, Andy and Elisa have rounded out the group. I am not sure we can grow much larger since no one has a table large enough! Although Steph and Reid now have a dog, Miles, and Jacob and Kelly have added baby Micah - but they don't take up a spot at the table. Oh, and we now meet on Sunday nights.

How It Works:
We rotate hosting duties every week. The hosts provide the main dish and ask the rest of us to bring something to share. Usually we are assigned drinks, side dish, salad or dessert. I love to cook and read cookbooks, so Sunday Night Dinner is the perfect excuse to pour over my latest issue of Cooking Light or my favorite cookbooks to find the perfect dish. This is also the reason Cyrus and I asked for a table and chairs for a wedding present (thank you Stevens family).

Our Own Tradition:
We will continue to gather every Sunday, including guests (family and friends) whenever they come to visit. The few hours on Sunday evenings are my favorite time of the week. Our little group has shared life events including; new jobs, old jobs, marriages, new homes, home projects, a baby, pets, church, vacations, holiday celebrations, and grad. school. I look forward to more Sundays and spending time with the friends that have shaped our life here in Tacoma.

-Abbie

Our Honeymoon

We are about to celebrate our one year anniversary.

And we finally learned how to add to this website. So, we thought we would start our own posts with our trip to Banff.

We will not try to fill in the entire year but share some highlights and then move forward into year #2!

We broke up our two days of driving by

go karting outside of Glacier National Park

Abbie and Cyrus on their way to Banff...

and happily married!

Cyrus at Olive Lake, Kootenay NP

Castle Mountain, Banff Canada

Crags above SE side of Lake Louise, Banff

Looking SW across Lake Louise.

Mt. Temple to the up and left, Mt. Victoria up and right in the clouds. Abbie and I bought our first rope from an Australian working in Banff for the summer. had been waiting all summer for the purchase and had a great time climbing on the cliffs on the right of this picture. Good view from the top!

Glacial silt into Lake Louise.

Cyrus is pretty sure this is what give the

lake its amazing baby blue color.

Looking NE across Lake Louise to the Chateau de Lake Louise.

Chateau de Lake Louise. It's really different to see a large resort in a national park, because we are not used to seeing this in the states.

Our Wedding - August 19, 2006

Click on the Image for a larger view...
Cyrus' father is a very talented photographer. He spent most of his time in Red Lodge behind the camera documenting the event and people. These photographs are a great gift to us as it is an authentic representation of our wedding. Thank you Ian. It was Ian who started this blog as a way for us to share these photos with our family and friends. We hope to continue sharing as we adventure together in life.

Thanks for the great signs Dad!

Pastor Tad

Tad, Steven and Cyrus

Cyrus and his nephew, Steven

Lookin' good

Our Best Man, Reid

The Groom

Waiting to see Abbie for the first time...

Oh My!

Our Moms

Father of the Bride

One of the better ideas we had...Since we were married in Luther, MT (about 20 minutes from Red Lodge) we rented a bus to drive guests to the wedding site and back to the reception. Before the wedding, the wedding party rode out early. What follows are some of my favorite portraits.

Reid

Maybe a little nervous

But Happy

Stephanie, Matron of Honor

Davis

Abby

Davis

Kristy

Annie

Abbie's Mom racing past the bus

Annie

Drew

Annie

Reid
Abbie's brother, Tim
Heather
Lanny
J.T.
Abby
Abbie and Steph
Jess, suprised by the bride
Mom checking out the view

the wedding site

Tim and Jacob, our musical friends Tad, our pastor
Sue B.
It's hard walking in heels down a dirt road





My girls looking beautiful
Dad and I arriving in the carriage We had a great time riding down the hill. We talked the whole way, laughed and enjoyed the moments before the ceremony together.
I got really nervous when we got closer to the crowd. There were so many friends and family members gathered in Luther, Montana. Many of the people I had not seen yet and I was overwhelmed by their presence. Thank you all for making it such a special day.

Taking it all in....I am pretty sure I wasn't breathing at this time.
Morgan and Rebekah

Beautiful Mom
GG drove all the way from California to be with us