Playing in the snow with the nephews!

Naadir wanted to be buried!

Tie-dye from Aunt Carrie is awesome!

Aven liked her new dolly!

Jaye, Sara, Claire, Peter and Carrie

Naadir and Torsten see Santa!

Fun on the Polar Express!

Ben wishes he had Sunglasses!

We started off our trip by spending a few days with Wendy in Denver. The [...]]]> Ben and I had a wonderful Christmas break that was filled with friends and family! It was a long trip, so this is a long post, with lots of links and links to pictures…

Ben wishes he had Sunglasses!

We started off our trip by spending a few days with Wendy in Denver. The weather was beautiful, and we were able to see some of the places we frequented when we lived in Colorado. We had coffee with Aspen, who I played soccer with when I lived there, and we had a great dinner with Wendy’s parents. Ben got to take a welding class at Club Workshop in Denver. Club Workshop is this cool place where they have any tool imaginable for woodworking, metalworking, and more! You can be a member, or pay by the day. It was cool!

We were able to go to my favorite Indian restaurant anywhere, Taj Mahal III, in Louisville. They even remembered us! That’s how often we went there!

From Denver, we flew to Durango, where we met up with the rest of the Heavners, along with Jaye and Bob, and their kids with their families. We skied one day at Purgatory – the weather was beautiful, the snow was great, and we paced ourselves and managed to ski the whole day!

Skiing at Purgatory

On December 23, we went on the Polar Express. There is a narrow gauge railway that goes from Durango to Silverton. In the winter, the route is shortened, and Santa visits the train! If you know the story of the Polar Express, then you know how the train ride went. The train arrived, then we boarded. The people working on the train were dressed as chefs (just like the book and movie!), and served us hot chocolate and cookies while the hot chocolate song played.

On Christmas Eve, we flew to Seattle to visit my family. We had a relaxed Christmas day that started with Danish Puff and stockings. Ben and I went for a run (it was cold and slippery, but sunny!), then we had our traditional Christmas day breakfast of eggs benedict and baked grapefruit – then presents! That evening we had a fondue fiesta! Ryan and Corinne came up from Tacoma, and Laura and Chris came over from West Seattle.

We spent Boxing Day in Seattle with mom and Ryan – we took the fairy over for a dim sum lunch, then the traditional Seattle outdoor store tour: REI, Feathered Friends, Second Ascent, and O.R.. We got some good deals on new jackets, and realized that other than that, we don’t really feel like we need much gear these days. That’s one difference between Ithaca and Alaska!

We couldn’t get enough quality Ryan and Corinne time, so went down to Tacoma on Sunday to hang out there. We got to see the new Tacoma Vertical Club that Ryan’s been building for the past few months – it is super awesome. Ben and Ryan bouldered a bit, then we went and got some coffee drinks and looked at shops on Tacoma’s antique row before going to see their super cool T-town loft and getting dinner with Corinne at the not-so-cool as we remembered Rock Pasta.

Cai mans the pumps!

Cai had a busy Tuesday cleaning the house (he’s very in to sweeping, so we got him a broom and dustpan as a present, and he immediately got to work). We interrupted him for a short trip to Battle Point Park. We did a bit of digging under Jason’s supervision, and then went to explore the soccer fields and to track the elusive Killer Bunnies of Bainbridge Island. Fortunately, we made it out of the thickets alive, so we could still participate in one of Jason’s wonderful single malt whisky tastings at the inaugural meeting of the Bainbridge Island Whisky Society, hosted at my parent’s house. Ben reports that the whisky was great. I watched a movie with Tamara and Cai.

Tamara, Jason, and Cai headed out on Wednesday after breakfast, and I slept. I wasn’t feeling well – maybe I got Ben’s hangover for him? He and dad went and watched Avatar while I slept.

I had planned to cook a great dinner of braised short ribs and polenta with goat cheese (since it turned out so well for Ben’s birthday dinner), but in the end, I just gave mom the recipe, and she did all the work (sorry mom!). It was fantastic, but I felt bad since it was supposed to be my turn to cook. Stupid being sick.

On Thursday, we had a morning dash of packing up, saying goodbye, and catching the ferry to Seattle to meet up with Gavin for New Years festivities. Said festivities involved getting The Illustrious S.K.T. from her job, and driving to a cabin just South of Mt. Rainier that E. & L. had rented. We hung out, banged on pots at midnight, watched some 1980′s ski video, and played a “Neverending Story” drinking game before finally calling it a New Year.

Heroically, Gavin and Susan woke up on New Year’s Day and drove us back up to the airport, where we caught our plane and made it home with only minimal security problems caused by the 8 pound cast-iron krunkake griddle that we hoped to transport in Ben’s carry-on bag (we ended up mailing it).

Thanks to all our wonderful friends and family for such a great holiday season, and Happy New Year to you all!

To see the rest of our pictures, go to our gallery!

Well, apparently we can only manage quarterly blog updates. So here goes…

We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville with Bestey, Jim, Kori, Heri, Taariq, and Naadir. We had a ton of fun hanging out and went to the zoo. Our favorite part of [...]]]> It seems we forgot to upload this blog entry at some point….

Well, apparently we can only manage quarterly blog updates. So here goes…

We spent Thanksgiving in Nashville with Bestey, Jim, Kori, Heri, Taariq, and Naadir. We had a ton of fun hanging out and went to the zoo. Our favorite part of zoo was the playground that was big enough for big kids!

We made mozzarella – and it was pretty easy. First you put citric acid in the milk and heat it up – but [...]]]> So, for my birthday Tamara gave me a cheese making kit! It has everything you need to make mozzarella or ricotta, minus the milk. We tried it out, and it worked great!

We made mozzarella – and it was pretty easy. First you put citric acid in the milk and heat it up – but not too much – it is just barely warm.


Then you add the rennett and let it sit for a while. It gets a texture like custard, sort of solid. You then cut this up and put it in a bowl, trying to separate it from the whey. You knead it, kind of like bread, and microwave it a little and it becomes stretchy like taffy!


That is when it is done. You then mold it into a ball and put it in ice water to cool off. Pretty easy and fun!


Then we made pizza! The dough is homemade in our fancy schmancy bread machine with spent grains from making beer, and whey from making the cheese. The basil is from our garden – and we made the mozzarella! It was super yummy! Here are pictures before and after baking.

Of course, it’s been a busy 8 months – that’s how our lives go. And we seldom have our camera with us. We did more than knit, crochet, and climb; however, here’s a few [...]]]> If we keep doubling the time between updates each time, soon it will be infinitely long… Perhaps we shouldn’t go that route.

Of course, it’s been a busy 8 months – that’s how our lives go. And we seldom have our camera with us. We did more than knit, crochet, and climb; however, here’s a few things we did take pictures of:

• Gretchen’s pottery for Christmas presents
• Making shirts for the nephews for Christmas presents
• The pretty tablecloth Kristy gave us for our anniversary
• A cute octopus that Gretchen crocheted
• Heavner family reunion – featuring SWEET DDR action at Uncle Ron’s
• The felted slippers that Gretch knitted
• Some pictures from Ben’s trip ice climbing at Salmon River Falls
• The dog
• More crocheted animals
• A spring break trip to Red Rocks and Joshua Tree