Highlight (one of them anyway) of the trip

 

Dean wanted to go up the mountains to either ski or snowboard, so my friend Eric said that he'd go. Turned out to be a great day. Eric, Dean, Sheri, and I headed out for a day in the snow. While the guys were skiing, we hung out in the lodge. I previously had thought that it'd fun to stay in the lodge and get some work done. You know, it'd be warm and cozy, with a fireplace and large viewing windows. Well, it wasn't quite like that. It was built more like a cafeteria with carpeting, some windows, and I couldn't find the fireplace. And it was smelly. I guess that's the part you don't imagine when you're watching some movie and they show a ski lodge filled with fit and beautiful people but...there's no smell-a-vision. Well, this lodge was filled with young people (16 - 25 years old) who had all been skiing the slopes. And they were hot and stinky when they came in. Ugh. Yeah...next time I'm taking Lysol with me.

Eric & Dean

 

Eric is my colleague at the university. He's an environmental scientist, but he also moonlights as a ski instructor. Lucky for Dean. Here's the pic of the them before they left for the lift. Dean didn't look so happy at the end of the ski run.

Looking like a skiier

 

Getting outfitted

 

Here's Dean getting ready to go skiing. Don't mind the extra arm in the pic. That's Eric. Sometimes he has bad timing.

On the drive up

 

The drive to the ski resort was about 2 - 2.5 hours. We started in Seattle and it was wet, but no snow. By the time we were about 45 minutes out from the ski area, it was snowing buckets. Lots. Here's a blurry pic as we're riding up.

Also in October...

My cousin, Carolyn, came to visit from Portland. Here she is with my nephew Conner. Carolyn is adjusting to life in the Pacific Northwest (having grown up a southern belle). It's different here in granola country, isn't it, Carolyn?

Also, this is the evil that Carolyn brought with her:



We didn't know how evil they were until we ate half of them. These were compliments of Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland.

Trick-or-Treating with Van & Sophia

 

OK...I realize this is from October, but at least there are pictures. I went trick-or-treating with Van & Sophia and look at how cute they were! Sophia was Woody and Van was none other than Buzz Lightyear. They were absolutely adorable. The benefits to going trick-or-treating with youngters is that you get to pilfer their candy. Reeses Peanut Butter Cup. Mmmmm.

To Infinity, and Beyond!

 

This is the best shot of Van I got all evening. Sigh.

Woody

 

Sophia made a fantastic Woody. She was all decked out in her costume and was very polite as we went door-to-door on our hunt for candy.

Lollipop, Lollipop, Oh Lolly Lollipop!

Here are Van and Sophie smiling for the camera. Notice the lollipop in Van's hand? Yeah, that's after Heidi got rid of the other 3 he was holding simultaneously. This child has a major sweet tooth.