Buckets o’ Rain: Photos Fall 2012

What have we been up to the last 6 months?  A whole helluva lot!  The whirlwind of fall began with a very exciting next step–a new home base to launch our lives.  From this new casa, we’ve kept busy with biking, canning, pressing, bottling, laughing, dancing, and spending quality time with those we love.  Without further ado, here are a handful of pictures to scroll on down through:

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Surprise! A lovely dinner in the park for my belated birthday:

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Our lovely new house:

The first night in our new home!

And Shannon reaping the bounty of blackberries from our backyard:

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Three-day Wine Country Tour out in Walla Walla with a couple dozen amazing, vino-loving friends–epic bonfires, Russian poetry, and gigersnaps galore.  A wonderful weekend organized by the one and only Tyler Blake Davis:

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Canning Op in full effect. 150lbs tomatoes, 20lbs cucumbers and 30lbs peaches don’t stand a chance. The bounty? 40 jars of tomatoes, 12 jars salsa, and 14 jars of spicy pickles. We ended up freezing (and eating!) most of the peaches.  All in a days work:

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First home project–a place to hang our gear. Before & after:   

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Hanging with the fam for an early autumn BBQ:

My nephew Calvin harvesting the last of the carrots from Oma & Gampa’s garden:

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Father and son duo tackling the overgrown yard:

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The fam supporting Shannon for the 2012 Walk for Lupus Now –Team She She:

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Just a few apples to make cider:

After a few hours of cranking and crushing by hand, we break out the bike, throw it on a trainer, zip tie a wheel to the crank and connect the two pieces together with an extra bike tube. Genius:

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Love this little man:

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Seattle Sounders dominating the Portland Timbers 3-0:

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On to wine.  900 lbs of Syrah and Cab about to get crushed:

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Getting Tom the Turkey ready for our Housewarming Harvest party:

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Watching the Seahawks upset the Patriots 24-23.  Great game with lovely ladies–Ann, lady Grady, Rebecca and Meg.

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First soggy commute of the year–still smiling!

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Bottling our 2010 Syrah…

And pressing our 900lbs of 2012 Syrah and Cab Sav with Leslie, Tyler, Colin and Hilary.  Us before a killer hail storm started pelting down:

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Bike trip out to Doe Bay on Orcas to soak in the tubs and watch the Frost Giants rock the house:

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Happy Birthday Dave–celebrating with shot-SKIS!

Happy Birthday, Erin!  Scorpios are everywhere!

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Racking our 2012 batch for the first time, with Leslie and Tyler:

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With Thanksgiving around the corner…meet this year’s Tom:

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Back in the ‘Burgh for Thanksgiving.  Devlin in the middle!

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First ski day of the season, up at Crystal–with John, Julian and Richard:

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Impromptu beats on the Hill with Andy, Colin, and the crew:

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Getting my paint on:

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Megan and Rob on a quick but amazing weekend trip to Seattle:

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Getting our place ready for the weather–clearing the sidewalk and sealing up our abode:

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Christmas in Seattle:

Christmas in Portland with my Brendan, Natalie and the boys: 

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Got my skins on for our first short backcountry tour up at Baker

At Austin Pass–halfway there!

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JANUARY 1st 2013!  Absolutely beautiful day at Crystal with new friends:

Did you make it all the way to the bottom??–Congratulations!

So many more adventures on the books for the winter and spring.  We’ll keep you posted!

G’night,

E