Merry Christmas!

Beautiful family, thoughtful gifts, and delicious food resulted in a love-filled Christmas.  Merry Christmas!!! 

Projects Complete

These are two of the larger knitting/crocheting projects I have embarked on this year.  I started the granny square afghan in the summer and completed it just in time for Christmas.  I am very glad to be done these projects.  

Fresh Holly, Snow and a Warm Fire

We picked fresh greens from the yard to put together wreaths and swag.  It sure felt like Christmas as we set up the tree accompanied by eggnog, snow, and a warm fire. 

Almost Home

We were so happy to finally be back on the Pacific Ocean.  We quickly found a beach near San Francisco to read, relax, and play backgammon.  All tension and fighting stopped the moment our feet touched the sand.  After spending three months in a car together, a certain amount of tension builds.  :)  

Fields of Elk in the Redwood National Forest

We took the scenic route

Castles of Montezuma, AZ

Grand Canyon - Absolutely breathtaking.  Difficult to maintain any type of perspective. 

Death Valley in the Mojave desert.  This valley has some of the hottest recorded temperatures in North America.  It was stunningly beautiful and like nothing I have ever seen.  It felt like we were driving on a different planet.  The next four photos are of Death Valley. 

We spent three days in Las Vegas and this is the only photo we took.  Las Vegas was incredibly overwhelming.  We were thrilled the first night, but were soon turned off by the gambling and partying culture.  A fun and interesting experience that we do not feel like we need to repeat.   

Saguaros and Sunrises in Arizona

These Saguaro are amazing.  I have never been to the desert before and was amazed when I first saw this cactus.  They can grow up to 60 feet and can be over 150 years old.  So different from our Canadian forests.

This caught our attention!  One of the many unique shapes of the cacti.  ;) 

We just had to take turns sitting in the hole in the rock. 

One morning we woke at 6:15 and promptly left for a sunrise hike.  We didn't quite make it in time to a point where we could see the sun rise directly over the horizon, but we nevertheless enjoyed the growing light and fresh air.