Spring is in the Air

This week we went to the Hulda Klager Lilac Gardens in Woodland, WA. It was a very good day and the flowers were very nice.

Now a historical site, the gardens were started in 1905. The grounds include an old farm house and other farm buildings.

Hulda Klager began hybridizing lilacs in 1905 and created over 200 varieties in her lifetime. Currently the gardens have over 90 varieties of lilac to enjoy. Here are some beautiful variants:

The Lilac gardens are wonderful and it was fun to wander around and smell the flowers. There are also lots of other flowers including some large rhododendrons.

Just down the road is the Holland American Bulb Farms, which specialize in tulips:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was also really cool. They have dozens of varieties to see. I was amazed at how many colors there are. Here are just some of the tulip types:

   

Overall, it was a great day. We will leave you with this picture of Ruth and her giant clogs…

Super Secret Story Blog

BPC finally came back from vacation and has posted some titles to vote on. Head over to the Super Secret Story Blog (link at left) and vote for your favorite.

Week with Dave

After our trip to Idaho, we were able to take Dave back with us to Washington between his semesters. We had a fun week with him.

On the way home we took a rest in the Blue Mountains.

On Tuesday, we took Dave to downtown Vancouver. This included a walk through Fort Vancouver, the original settlement here.

 

And the Vancouver Waterfront.

 

Wednesday, I and my sister Elina took Dave up the Columbia River Gorge. We hiked to Elowah Falls, one of my favorites.

 

We stopped at Horsetail Falls, Multnomah Falls, and Latourell Falls.

  

Besides the great waterfalls, I also found the same salamander from a few weeks ago, and several cool bugs.

Here we are at Crown Point.

Thursday we went to the coast. We had wonderful weather, so the views were very nice. We stopped at Ecola State Park, a place where we took Ruth’s family to when we spent Christmas at the coast back in 2007.

We walked to Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach. And we stopped to get some of our favorite salt water taffy at Bruce’s Candy Shop.

We ended the day trip in Tillamook at the Cheese Factory. Dave and Ruth pose here as the farmer and the cow. Dave’s expression is particularly good.

And we were all very happy to get some ice cream…

Thursday was also my Mom’s Birthday. We are glad we actually got to be home to celebrate it with her, and Ruth even baked the cake. Hope you had a good birthday, Mom.

We were glad to have Dave visit with us a few days.

Utah and Idaho

We had the opportunity recently to go to Utah and Idaho! The trip was mostly to go and help Dana’s sister, Elina, pack her stuff up and return home. But we decided to stop by Utah and visit some people first.

We missed the pretty mountains and Dana had to take lots of pictures of them all covered in snow.

 

This panoramic is the view off Uncle Sherman’s deck. We were able to stay with them and had a great time!

 

We also got to see my friend, Jackie, who just got back from her mission in Holland. Here we are after eating some tasty In’n’Out.  For the record, it’s just as good as I remember it and not over-hyped.

In Rexburg we got to see the temple all completed and Elina took us on a tour of the rock and mineral collection on campus.

Dana’s mom was even brave enough to come with Dana and I to Craters of the Moon. It was very snowy (and a lot of the park was closed) but it was still fun.

We also took a day to drive down to Idaho Falls and go through the temple there. We also got to see my cousin, Jessica, and her kids. It was a quick visit, but nice.

While in Idaho we stayed with my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Bruce; Thanks for letting us stay with you guys! (And for the tasty brownies!)

Here are some shots of the drive from Felt to Rexburg. We were quite happy to see a moose making its way across a field and for being able to see the Tetons come out from the cover of clouds. Yay for Idaho!

We were also able to see Ruth’s brother Dave, and he even came home with us to Washington for the week between classes. Our next post will be our adventures with Dave in the Great Northwest.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! We hope that this season of renewal and rebirth is a time of growth and improvement for all of you.

And we hope you get lots of candy from the Easter Beagle :-)