Tage and Karen Visit Cashmere

Saturday afternoon Kent's Grandpa and Aunt Karen arrived from Canada and Kent's parents Bing and Britta joined us from Kettle Falls. We had a very tasty Danish "lunch" for dinner which is many little rye bread sandwiches with various toppings. Toppings can include: butter, pickled herring and onion, boiled egg and tomato, meat, and cheese to name a few. The possibilities are endless! :)

Tage carefully decorates the meal with Danish flags.

Annie, Kent, Britta and her twin Karen sit down ready to eat.

We had a wonderful time having them visit. Our crabapple tree was in FULL bloom!

Finished Bedroom!

Today we finished a project we started three years ago (with a few years break). When we bought this house in 2003 the walls of the 2nd upstairs bedroom were lumpy with five to six layers of wallpaper and paint. It looked like IKEA with blue trim and yellow walls. We worked for a few days on getting the wallpaper off, spackling, and sanding. Today we finished the painting and organizing it; making it into a real usable room!

The color is off on this photo, but you can see the window seat. Next project is to make a pad for it.

New Bed and Flowers

Our bedroom is an attic bedroom with steep stairs so the largest bed we could fit upstairs was a full sized bed. But we noticed a mattress in a box at Costco and decided to get it. It is a memory foam king sized bed. We were able to easily get to twin sized box springs upstairs.

We took the bed out of the box and cut the plastic. It immediately started to take shape. We couldn't sleep on it for 24 hours.

This is what our back yard looks like right now. The grass is looking better than it has in the past because we installed a watering system last year.

Flowers from our garden...

Last year we planted two Stella cherry trees in our back yard. We were really excited to see that they are flowering! They will have dark black richly flavored cherrys.

Tulip Festival Photos

This was our very first time visiting the tulip festival in the Anacortes/Burlington area. We spent the afternoon driving by the colorful fields and once in a while getting out to take a few photos.

KOA Camping- Burlington, WA

After visiting Kent's Grandpa Tage in Nanaimo, BC we took the ferry back to the mainland and drove down to Burlington, WA. We stayed in our very first KOA cabin.

After we settled in we took a drive to the tulip and daffodil feilds. We were so lucky to have clear skies and wonderful sun!

Butchart Gardens- Victoria, BC

Monday we took a walk through Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC. We arrived at the opening of the park and spent an hour and a half exploring the colorful gardens.

Although some gardens were just at their early stages there were gorgeous cherry trees blooming.

There were definately too many hyacinths to count!

This would be a great garden to visit in the summer... it would be a completely different place!

Galiano Island, B.C.

We have started our spring break off on a great start. Saturday we took the BC Ferry over to Galiano Island to visit Jeff and Marianne (Kent's Uncle and Aunt). They have an adorable cottage that they have recently finished. (click on photos for larger images)

We spent Saturday and Sunday hiking around Galiano Island. This photos is taken from the top of Galiano Mountain.

Other hikes led to beautiful sandy beaches and breathtaking views of the mountains and water.

We also had some time to relax!

Saddlerock- Wenatchee, WA

On Saturday, March 17th we took our first hike for 2007! Our music teacher friends invited is to join them on this easy day hike. At the top, we stopped for a lunch and enjoyed the view of the valley.

Saddlerock is a group of rocks that look over Wenatchee, Washington (20 min. drive from Cashmere). There are great views of Wenatchee from many points along the trail.

Kent was the adventuresome one of our group. He climbed up one of the rock formations as we all watched.

Swakane Wildlife Area

Sunday we took a hike around the Swakane Wildlife Area. The weather was very sunny, but there was a strong wind.

Click on the link to see a video of the area: http://www.youtube.com/v/Oz9YLNulY1Y

We ran into a few herds of mule deer (probably 30 total). Cassy was especially interested in watching... and running after them.

It was a great hike! Cassy especially loved the break at the top of the mountain!

The views from the top of the mountain were spectacular!

Peshastin Pinnacles

Saturday we took a walk on the trails of the Peshastin Pinnacles. The weather was very "on and off again" but it was still a great time to explore. This photo is looking towards our hometown Cashmere, Washington.

The orchards are all white because they have been recently sprayed. We can't wait until we start seeing some green leaves and then blooms!






Kent brought all his rock climbing gear, but it started raining again and did not want to slip!

The flowers have just starting to bloom on the southern side of the hills.