Clear Creek Trail

We've passed this sign countless times on our way to town (which is only like 5 minutes away from our house btw) but we never stop to check out this place until two weeks ago. We had a 3 day weekend in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day but we were pretty much cooped up in the house for the first 2 days since it rained.  I really hope we could get more snow before winter is over. We only got it twice so far. Monday was better though it was cloudy for most part of the day with light showers towards the end  of the afternoon but we just had to get out of the house for awhile to get some fresh air. So we went to this place that turns out to be a pretty nice place for a walk. Actually where we went is only part of the trail called Silverdale Rotary Gateway Park. Based on the map, I think it's a 5-6 mile trail but we only did probably around 2 miles or less.

The trail is wide and easy to walk. As you can see in the pictures, part of the trail is a well constructed boardwalk that continues to a wetland area.

We didn't spot any salmon

Despite the gloominess, it was a nice day for a walk.

The boardwalk is wide enough for kids to run

Apart from these ducks, we spotted a couple great blue herons took off in flight but unfortunately I was not prepared with my camera to take their pictures.

I wanted to check out this place since it looks pretty old but it's on a private property land and this is the closest I could get.

After the boardwalk we came to this paved trail.

Part of the creek

Different views of the trail

Toothless boys

Emir took this picture

Water running through the creek

At first glance, I thought it was a real giraffe but it turns out to be a sculpture.

On the way back.

This is a funny old dog. She kept whining and begging us to play fetch with her. She even went to search for a stick and put the stick in front of us hoping that we would throw the stick somewhere so she could  run and  fetch it We obliged. I mean look at her eyes. Those hopeful eyes. Of course kenalah berhati-hati takut tersentuh bahagian yang basah, kalau tak kenalah samak dulu sebelum sembahyang. Ada pernah dengar sabun taharah. Sabun tu buatnya dari tanah liat. So sebelum datang sini dulu, ada beli a few just in case kalau ada situasi yang memerlukan kita bersamak, at least boleh terus ja samak tak payah nak kutip tanah dulu.

For Grammy

Dear Grammy, 

We got them today and they fit perfectly. Thank you so much!

Small is good, messy is not

Chocolate petit fours. Midgets of the cake world but aren't they cute? I made them yesterday. But it's messy. I tell you that.

2010 Highlights - Part 3

Still about Christmas at the Millers. They have a really nice house with an amazing view of Mount Hood. If you were to stand in front of the big windows at the living room you would be able to see a clear sight of the mountain.

Front view. I love the big pine trees around the area. This place reminds me of Cameron Highlands in Malaysia. 

The side view going down hill. Simply breathtaking.

See those holes? They were made by moles and they're all over the place.

The backyard. I can imagine what summer would be like. FUN!

These are the babies of the house. Look at how healthy they are! So chubby! I think there are four of them in total if I'm not mistaken. The first one in the picture is Noel, a pretty shy cat and she is Uncle Don's baby. I'm not so sure if the next one is Shamu or another cat that looks pretty much the same with black and white fur. I know one of them has seven toes on his front paws instead of five. And then there's this white persian cat named Snowflake. Didn't get any picture of her though. I love cats but unfortunately since I left college god knows how many years that has been, I've developed some kind of allergy towards all hairy animals so I can't play with them anymore :-(.

I love the interior part of the house. The big windows, the fire place, the wood floor, the soothing green wall, the sofas, just to name a few.

The love of randomness

At one point before noon all of us gathered together in the living room to open our presents. The Millers with their children - Kristi and her husband Kevin, Staci and her beau, and the youngest daughter Briana and  the five of us. Here's Uncle Don unwrapping his.

Me with Aunt Dottie and the boys

Aunt Dottie looked so cheerful!

Three pretty sisters - Kristi, Staci and Briana.

Apart from some books, the boys got a rubber animal each from Aunt Dottie. Thank you so much! A spider for Emir which he really loves, a realistic looking bat for Farhan and a scorpion for Ezzat. They all end up in Emir's toy box  now because he's really into animals nowadays and he plays with them more than his brothers. He is currently the 'zookeeper' for his classroom, helping his teacher feeding  their class pets and he even requested for a real Tarantula as a pet which unfortunately would never be approved by his mother.

A feast on the eyes and stomach - appetizers and desserts. I am pretty sure I was busy helping myself with food that I had totally forgotten to take pictures of the main stuff. 

This is Miss Chloe. She is three (if  I'm not mistaken) and she is one very smart girl. She is the daughter of Uncle Don's niece, Jessica. 

I hope to meet you again Miss Chloe.

This is Carter. He is Miss Chloe's brother. And I fell in love with his chubby cheeks.

I had a great time snapping these pictures of Carter but it was hard to choose which ones to put on here. So I decided to put up them all!

Such a happy and very inquisitive baby

We had a Bingo blast. The last time I played the game was a long time ago when I was in primary school. It was fun especially when it's with families and the boys, especially Emir and Ezzat enjoyed the game very much. Ezzat even got Bingo twice! Farhan on the other hand  had a hard time focusing. He got pretty edgy towards the end of the day so he went to take a short nap until it was time for us to go home.

 Emir was practicing his new job as a Bingo caller and Uncle Don was supervising him.

These adorable children are Aunt Dottie's and Uncle Don's grandchildren.