1 Out on a jog I saw four or five eagles soaring overhead! Ben would love that!
2 Looking across to Seattle.
3 Chickens enjoying a snack!
4 Merlin eating porridge out of Dave's leftovers :)
5 Ben out on a hike/bike with me, looking at mushrooms.
6 Then to the playground!
7 A brief biology lesson on cell signaling :)
8 And tumor growth!
9 Then a wrap-up with the inflammatory response to injury :) (That is blood swelling under the aluminum foil.)
10 Yum - great lesson, mom!
11 Our friends Tijen and Clay over for a "farm breakfast" and fun afterwards :)
12 Tijen's kids :)
13 My chicken-mamma friend!
14 I just love Tijen. She is SO much fun!
15 Ben and Tijen's daughter making eagle noises at each other. It was quite noisy in the house!
16 Some bike jumps :)
17 Looks like he can see a little better now!
18 Yeah!
19
20 Ben getting in on the action :)
21 Go Ben!
22 We turned the Christmas lights on and studied how electricity fills the wire - at first they all lit up faintly, then 0.03 seconds later they came to full power. Dave says maybe resistance or impedence were responsible.
23 You can see the power going through in this movie which we slowed down many hundred times.
24 A friend of mine made this ornament for Sam's teacher as a class present!
25 So pretty, Nicole!
26 At the Bloedel Reserve for the holiday train/village exhibit.
27 A military guy who lived all over the world built these homes by hand to imitate the villages of France, where he met his wife.
28 Reminded me of the doll house my grandfather made for me. Wish I still had it :(
29 Playground fun in the sun! When the sun comes out here, you can be sure it's cold - the sky is clear and not holding in any heat.
30 After losing a hen to a predator, Merlin is standing guard. Sad :(
31 Dave tried to catch the pretty light on the trees one morning.
32 And I learned to swing an axe in avenging Polly's death.
33 Meeting Santa! We saw him several times this season :)
34 Telling Santa about wanting an axe for Christmas!
35 Three new chickens! We THINK these are hens...
36 The mother of these hens disappeared for a month, and the owner thought she'd been food for a predator. When she came back from the woods, she had 12 chicks in tow!
37 A Kanikapila party - a Hawaiian-style musical jam with our friends!
38 We had such a great time playing music and hanging out with them.
39
40 Sam playing Amazing Grace with Chele on accordion and Larry on mandolin.
41 Larry is so much fun! He is wearing Dave's king hat :)
42 Santa at the bakery! An impromput shot - you can see we're fresh off the trail or something :)
43 A beach walk - found some people filming a zombie movie while we were out. Weird!
44 And one more hen! This is Jersey! She is a large hen - a Jersey Giant. We are so thankful to have our flock complete - for now!
45 The fun we have around here - wood chopping!
46 Sam is quite a roper! Uncle Tom would be really proud!
47 Sam learned to throw a bowline from a really nice guy at a marine store in Poulsbo. We set out to learn the double carrick bend sennet, which he'd been working on for a while to make a belt. We got to learn this one, too - a very helpful knot to know!
48 Christmas Eve hike with three other families - 9 boys under age 10!
49 Lots of fun together :)
50
51 "Hey Mrs. Krug, take a picture of us over here!"
52
53 My elf running :)
54 Scaring the grown-ups - kids were hiding all over in the woods.
55 Group shot attempt!
56 Kids taking pictures of themselves, now.
57
58 Ben talking to a buddy.
59 Mom grabbed a few shots of my elf outfit...
60 It made a beagle howl when I got out of the truck!
61 Christmas Eve dinner.
62 Loving having family here!
63 Rebecca - look who came to visit! Thank you!!!
64 Sam got to do some leaf blowing!
65 And Ben is trying out his axe from Tito Pig!
66 He loves it!
67 And I love my husband!
68 Nice shot, honey!
69 This is our "at-home date" activity - chopping wood and stacking it together.
