Holiday Cheer and Birthday Beers

Christmas Eve dinner - Filet, shrimp, twice-baked potatoes and asparagus. It was delicious!! After dinner we opened our Christmas pajamas and watched the claymation of Rudolph.

Unwrapping our presents on Christmas morning. We had so many piled under our tree that we decided it is time to upgrade to a bigger tree next year.

Reido and his birthday present. A new mountaineering watch perfect for all his upcoming trips next year.

He also got a K-State snuggie from the Collins family. AWESOME!

Time for our birthday dinner tradition. Semi-homemade pizza with some holiday brews

I am more than slighly embarrassed by Reid's birthday cake. The thought came across way better in my mind. Anyway, Reid loved his mountain cake because it was "made with love." Cake complete with hiking trail, mountains, tent, campfire and hiking santa.

Apparently I bought trick candles! Made for a good laugh as Reid tried to blow it out

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

M-oving: We decided we couldn't take our old neighbors anymore. We moved nearby and already love the new place so much more.

E-mployment: Tara was very grateful to keep her job with LexisNexis and is now in the works of transitioning to full-time status. She is still with Spokane Gymnastics and loves teaching kids.

R-unning: We have both started running and working out more. Currently, we are doing an intense, full-body workout program.

R-oad Trip: We decided to drive home for Thanksgiving this year. We were able to spend 6 days with family and friends.

Y-ear Ahead: Next year, we are hoping to travel more. We are already planning a trip to San Diego, Phoenix and Portland.

C-ompany: We had several visitors this past year. One of Reid's groomsmen, Tara's family and Tara's matron of honor made the trip to Spokane.

H-iking: This past year we took some more time exploring the Inland Northwest. Snyder has been a great hiking companion and loves being in the outdoors with us.

R-ainier: Reid met up with a buddy from college and hiked the tallest in Washington (14,410 ft). It was an incredible challenge and has peaked his interest in mountaineering.

I-nternship: Reid has been working with a local attorney in Spokane since May. He is practicing construction law and is getting lots of practical experience.

S-nyder: In April we adopted a German Short-haired Pointer from a nearby shelter. He is a little over a year and a half and full of energy. We say he is the best $10 we ever spent.

T-wo L: Reid is half-way through his second year of law school. This has been the hardest year yet trying to balance work and school. He has decided which type of law he would like to pursue after graduation - intellectual property (patent/copyright) law and/or construction law.

M-ountaineering: This next year, Tara is going to join Reid in his mountaineering trips. Her first mountain will be a 13,000 ft volcano in the Cascades. She might also join Reid on another climb up Mount Rainier. Reid's big trip will be to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa.

A-lma Mater: We've had the opportunity to watch K-State play football and basketball. We went to Denver for a K-State football game and attended the CBE Classic in Kansas City. Finally, we travelled to Pullman, WA where K-State played Washington State in basketball.

S-eason's Greetings from the Jennings Family, 2010!!

Yum, Yum!

I cooked dinner last night without any of Reid's help!! I was pretty proud :) We had Apple Cider Chicken with Pecan Rice and Zuchinni. Wasn't too bad.

One Perfect Saturday...

The temperature is cooling off, the apple candle is burning and football is on TV! I love this time of the year :)

The K-State was on the FSN channel out here so we got to watch the Cats play! Well I should say Reid watched them play. I caught the first and last 2 min of the game.

My friend Ashley and I had planned to ride our bikes to the Liberty Lake farmers market but the weather didn't exactly cooperate. So we drove there instead and I got some BEAUTIFUL flowers...

(There is a lady in the Spokane area who has a Daliah farm. I have never seen such beautiful flowers for only $4)

(You can't go wrong with 25cent sunflower stems)

After the market we headed to the best craft store ever, Hobby Lobby where I re-stocked to finish some scrapbooking. It feels good to be caught back up!

Canoe/Camping Trip

We decided to take advantage of the last few weekends of good weather to be outdoors. We went to Priest Lake in Nordman, ID for quite the outdoor adventure. We rented canoes at Priest Lake then canoed for about 1 1/2 hours through the thourough fare to Upper Priest Lake where we found our campsite. I have never seen such beautiful scenery!

The Jennings Family photo op before we set out to canoe. We didn't have the greatest weather conditions (windy) going out, but they were ideal coming back in.

Canoeing to the campsite. Snyder rode up front with Tara because he kept rocking the boat too much when he was in the middle. He did okay once he got use to the canoe. The water was so clear you could see straight to the bottom. Snyder kept himself occupied by checking that out, but when the water got to deep, he sat back and whined like a baby! Sometimes he is a wuss.

Hanging out at the campsite right before the sun went down. I could not get over on this trip how glassy the water looked. It was truly amazing!

We have a couple more trips we'd like to get in before winter. Hopefully the weather will hold up. Next weekend Reid is devoting to football and studying while Tara plans to take a bike ride with her friend Ashley to the neighboring town to go to the farmers market.

New Camera

We decided on and purchased a camera Friday! Yesterday we took it out on a hike and so far I LOVE the fact that it picks up different picture modes (it will go from taking a landscape photo to a portrait based on what I'm aiming at, SO COOL) but the coloring seems a bit off too me. Don't know if it is just because it was a cloudy day and the leave colors are changing or what. But it will get plenty use in Chicago next weekend for a true test! Here are some pics from our hike...

Well this was Reid's last full week of working with no school. Tomorrow marks the first day of his 2L year and he is already busy with homework assignments. His cherry on top was that the attorney he is working for asked him to write a legal response to a motion brief. Our little boy is growing up.

We decided that Reid is going to apply for some summer associate programs in Denver for next summer. Since Colorado is where we want to be, we figured this is a good start to get his feet wet in the Denver market.

Tara's camera decided to stop functioning yesterday. She was going to document Snyder's new accomplishment of retrieving the ball from the water and the lens became stuck and wouldn't close. Bad news being it is right before the wedding! Looks like her Christmas present will come a bit early this year.

Sorry for the boring picture-less post. Hopefully Reid will have some good first week of classes stories to share.

Hiking to the Extreme

Reid recently made the trek up Mt Rainier with a college friend and his wife. I decided it was in my best interest to stay home...I think for now I'll stick to the basics of hiking/camping.

The beautiful Mt Rainier located in southwestern Washington

Reid and his college friend JB out to conquer the mountain

WOO HOO I made it!

I think that even though there were times on the trip Reid wanted to cash in and head home, he's happy he pushed through and summitted the mountain. The aftermath of the summit was not pretty. Reid had the worst sunburn he's ever experienced and is still in the process of healing from it. I think he learned his lesson to not under estimate the power of the sun and it's reflection off the snowfields and glaciers. He's already in the process of planning the next big climb, Kilimanjaro!!

We're Learning...

Feeling The Heat

Now that it finally decided to be summer in Spokane, it has difinetly made its presence known. With much rain this spring (all the way through mid-June) and temps in the 60s, the past month has been SUNNY skies, 1 rainshower (which was mostly a shower of dirt) and a couple dust storms. Temperatures stay mostly mid to upper 80s but this week we've been mid 90s and it hasn't been pleasant. With no AC, we try to find things to do outside in the shade or water.

Reid has some law friends who have decided they want to be more outdoorsy during their time in Spokane so we all went to the state park in Spokane and did some hiking. This is the Bowl and Pitcher Trail in Riverside State Park. The trail follows the Spokane River.

Reid and I went white water rafting down this part of the river in June and none of these rocks were visible at the time. Tells you how dry it's been.

Hope everyone else is staying cool! We decided this week we are going to drive back to Kansas on our trip home in November. While it will take more time, it will cost us less money! Plus we want to introduce Snyder to the great midwest!!

Way Out West, The Story Goes...

Since Reid is hiking Mt Rainier in a couple of weeks, he wanted to head to Montana and climb a mountain a bit higher in elevation. Long story short, there was no "true trail" and Tara ended that idea quickly. So to make the trip to Montana somewhat worth it, we stopped in Sandpoint, ID on the way back home and camped.

Our second family camping trip

Lake Darling where we set up camp. It may be pretty, but the mosquitos made it not so fun

At the high point of the trail

Beautiful mountain view on the hike back down

Before we headed out of Montana we stopped at a river we crossed to see how Synder did in the water. While he was more than willing to walk around the shallow areas, we thought it would be a good idea to show off some swimming skills. I don't think he was too pleased with us!

Seattle Trip

We took a weekend and went to Seattle with some friends. Of course we had to hit a few of the tourist traps!!

Pikes Place Market. There are soo many beautiful flowers here! Oh and the tossing of the fish :)

We took a ferry to Bainbridge Island and had a wonderful lunch at the marina.

We even had time to watch the Mariner's take on the Yankees! We picked the best game of the series because the Mariner's won!!!

Happy 4th Of July

We headed to Coeur d'Alene, ID for 4th of July this year. Besides it being a chilly 4th, the fireworks were rather disappointing. We will probably be staying in Spokane next year.

It's Been A While...

So far we've had a crazy busy first half of the summer. Add that to our computer problems and it left us with not much time to update. So here we go with a mega-post...

Josh came to town for a visit! We love having visitors!!! We took Josh on a hike...

which also happened to be Snyders' first hike. He did pretty good and has gone on more since.

Next up was a white water rafing trip down the Spokane River. The river was high and running really fast (thanks to all the rain we've had) which made for great trip.

That same weekend the Collins clan came to town! They were brave and drove all the way here with my grandma! It was soo great to see them.

Next up was a hiking trip in Idaho. This picture was atop North Chilco Peak. We continued on...

and set up camp on South Chilco Peak! Snyder came along and learned to hike in his pack, but he still needs some help sleeping in the tent.

Reid's summer internship is going great. He is still catching up with depositions and will have to give a presentation about everything he's learned in the next few weeks. As for Tara's job, no update on if she'll get to keep it or move to full time. But for the time being, she is still busy working away!

The weather here has been fabulous this summer! We haven't had a day over 85 yet, and only a handful of days in the 80s. We are not missing Kansas this time of the year!! Not much else to update on. We are heading to Coeur d'Alene with some friends tomorrow for the 4th, going to Seattle next weekend for a baseball game and the first week in August Reid is climing Mt Rainier. I can't believe it is July already!!

One Year Anniversary

Since Reid begins work tomorrow, we deicded to celebrate our anniversay a week early. We headed down to the Columbia River Gorge which is the Washington/Oregon border about 4 1/2 hours southwest from Spokane. It was BEAUTIFUL!

Our cabin was right on the edge of a bluff in White Salmon, WA. I hung my camera from a nearby tree to get a shot of both of us overlooking the Gorge.

This is the view from our cabin of Mt Hood in Oregon. The river is what divides Washington from Oregon.

We hiked Eagle Creek trail which is about 40 miles east of Portland and 25 min west of where we were staying. This is Punch Bowl Falls, one of the many waterfalls along the hike.

This was the ultimate beauty of a waterfall, which we got to walk behind. Tunnel Falls was the ending destination of our hike and it was definitely worth the six miles of hiking to get to.

Nothing else new with the Jennings family. Snyder continues to fit right in with us. I have now been running everyday (at least 2 miles a day) since we got him and I can already tell a difference in my stamina!

Up next on our calendar is a trip from Josh!

Adding To Our Family!

We have both been wanting a dog for a little while now, and took the opportunity of the move to be able to have one. Meet Snyder!

He is a German Shorthaird pointer who is about a year old. So we choose his adoption date as his birthday! (April 21, 2009) He went to the vet and checked out all healthy! So far he has adapted well. He just needs to work on not following us EVERYWHERE we go in the house. I'm sure that will cure over time.

For being a puppy he sure does sleep A LOT. His mom is nice enough to wake up early and take him on a run before work, and dad finishes up the excercise with a run in the afternoon. Sometimes the family will even take an evening walk together.

He is a smart little guy, and we think we got pretty lucky with finding him. His story was he was found as a stray in Oregon and the man who found him didn't have any time for him and kept him cooped up all the time. Despite all those puppy-dog looks he gives us for not letting him be outside, he's quite the lover and we think he will have a wonderful life as part of our family!!