Happy New Year!

We'll be ringing in the New Year with a bit of fine white sparkles this year. A couple of days ago, the moisture in the air met the cold front from Alaska and the two fell in love. We did a little bit of skiing and snowmobiling and Vil got to play with his new toy (see picture below). After a couple of days of precip, the snow stopped and this gorgeous glowing orb in the sky showed up to make for spectacular (but cold) pictures. Last night the summit at the top of Snoqualmie was 5 degrees. We were sitting at a balmy 20 degrees, so we felt pretty lucky. Monday warmer temps come back and we get back into the rainy cold, pattern...until the next storm romance. To keep myself warm, I've been burying my nose deep into writing about the warm, summer days on the Wonderland Trail. When I take breaks, I look out my office window and see those big, green, boughs filled white and thank my lucky stars for winter. It truly is a vision.

We hope everyone has a safe, warm and happy New Years Eve!

V w/ his new toy.

This is our tree named Pearl. It's her first season with snow!

V rigged up a new bird feeder system designed to prevent bear feasting. The feeder is about 10 feet high and has a cable pull system for filling. Sping and Summer will put it to the test as the bears use our backyard trail a ton in those seasons. Vil's not too happy with the pole and he's already trying to figure out a stronger post because it's leaning a little. But regardless, my chickadees are super happy.

Our front yard!

Who knew chickadees were so territorial? It's rare to see two on the feeder together- they get in little arguments- like this one.

No picnics on the deck any time soon.

This morning I was up with the moon and couldn't resist heading outside in the snow in my PJ's for this shot.

As the sun came up we were treated to this vision!

As of today, Christmas of 2010 has been put away. Before dragging umteen boxes back into storage, I grabbed one final shot.

Here's a short little video with some movie clips of our storm.