tiz the season...

merry christmas season from all of us here at finding nowhere.

Pike Place Holiday Magic

every year pike place market decorates the market for the holiday season. we decided to hop the bus downtown for the afternoon/evening to enjoy the holiday festivities.

brooke's favorite seat of the accordion bus: sitting on the back half with
feet propped up on the front half of the bus at the hinge point. notice the
new shoes! simple - old school sneaker creepers! he's very proud of them.


our favorite seattle coffee: caffe ladro
100% organic/fair trade

the original. crazy to think we have the first starbucks
in the world! they've kept it pretty close to orignal.
don't be fooled...it all tastes the same.

put your nose closer to the screen...
you'll be able to smell them!

pike place market has to be the most 'colorful' place

santa cruises in style...only an international is good enough
for old saint nick!

for your desktop!
take a picture of yourself with this as a desktop background;
we'll post it and send you something sweet from washington!

my beautiful wife!

waiting for the holiday magic!

only at pike place would you see lit up christmas vegetables!

strands of lights with banners of the producers.

rein-pigs! rachael is on the right with a red nose.

andrea wanted my picture. she was standing about thirty feet
away ...'out of sight.' after i sat on the bench this shady dude,
who looked like santana, sauntered over and asked if i would like to
buy some weed. i politely declined and waited for him to move
out of frame; although he didn't move far. maybe he didn't think i
was serious. forget about having your pant leg rolled up, i guess
the universal sign for wanting to buy illegal drugs is to sit on
a bench by yourself, with your right leg crossed over your left
knee and having your left arm out-stretched. sorry dude...
although i have the correct posture, i still don't want to buy drugs.

take 2.
merry-beginning-to-your-christmas-season from your
local pike place market drug dealer.

Turkey Tom's Demise...aka: An Amazing Thanksgiving

this year we shared thanksgiving dinner here in washington with a couple from portland. andrea took it upon herself to prepare the entire entree...and it was amazing! here's how it unraveled:

andrea thought the turkey looked so cute that she
named it 'turkey tom.' too bad for tom...as you'll see!

little turkey tom's little right wing.

ouch! that must hurt turkey tom! is that a neck...or...
something else?!

woo! cleaning turkey tom out! where are the guts?
i didn't know you had to do this sort of stuff!

ewwwww...i found the gibblets...whatever they are!

i liked it when she started talking about 'brinning!'
i later found out that it meant to soak turkey tom
in salt water. i was disappointed.

you are on a "roll!" they were amazing!

we were joined for dinner with kris ann and jon.

that's kris ann carving turkey tom. we it was my turn
to play the 'dad,' i froze...i had no idea what to do.
i was glad there was a vet in the audience.

delicious!

my wife made the best thanksgiving dinner i think i've ever had! it was great to spend the evening with our friends jon and kris ann. after dinner we journeyed up a floor to their condo to enjoy a most delicious dessert and a game of scattergories! later we played a new game called 'mexican train' and enjoyed the company of wesley, bob, and paul. we missed our families, but we couldn't have asked for a nicer thanksgiving on the west coast!

BUSTED!

Is that a Starbucks cup?!

* fine print: this photo was setup!

In need of a mountain 'fix'

This past weekend we needed a little 'fix.' Where else to turn to than the mountains? We haven't been to Rainier in a month or so, and we've heard they've been getting some snow, so we packed up our daypacks and headed up.

The beginning of our drive: pouring down rain


Just inside the park and gaining elevation: first sight of snow


Up at Paradise Visitor Center: Snowy tracks. The Xterra did mighty fine as Brooke went tearing through there


The snow was beautiful (and quiet) but unfortunately, it was still raining/sleeting/hailing up there. Just wasn't cold enough I guess. We ran into a dozen or so skiers/snowboarders who packed up their gear and hiked out to a big snow field below a glacier. Sounds fun! Maybe next year?


Is that my husband hiding under that big marshmallow coat?


Andrea can't help but play in the snow like a little kid.


Here...catch!


I love this man!


Peaceful & serene


The fog rolling in...there was a big storm coming soon


The Nisqually Glacier. A little dry this time of year, but will hopefully be filled with snow on our next trip.

Kayaking Lake Union, Portage Bay & Union Bay

on the saturday of november 10th, andrea and i decided to give this kayaking thing one more try. if you will remember from this past summer, we almost died...literally, on the snake river. we decided that lake union, portage bay, and union bay would be the perfect baby-step to get us back into the sport in which we love. all ended well...this time!

put-in at the public boat launch on lake union.

paddling by gas works park.

the whole afternoon i was treated to float planes

taking-off and landing close by.

feels like i'm flipping through my dad's books.

for dad - fremont tug company

andrea made a few friends along the way!

on approach to the lake washington ship canal.

this is where UW Crew races start and end...
and they let the competition know it!

from union bay, i present: huskie stadium.
how freaking cool is this?! this is my type of football.
forget the game...lets watch the boats go through the canal!

stunning!

after navigating the rough waters of the shipping canal, we thought it was time for some pizza and beer. we got sidetracked on the way and found the epitome of seattle. i present to you:

the fremont troll!
yes, that is a full size vw beetle in the monster's grasp!
Here it is Mom K!

the brooke troll.

the andrea troll.

the day ended well as we grabbed grub at zeek's pizza [read: west coast deweys] and looked out the window at the space needle.

Cultivating Renton

This past Friday our church opened up its doors to the community, which it does very frequently, and put on an 'open mic night' as part of their 'Cultivate' outreach program. When we first heard about it, we thought it would the perfect place for Brooke to jump into the Seattle music scene, so he signed up. He has been working on some freaking amazing songs since we have moved out here, and I have really enjoyed listening to him sculpt these songs from day to day, now that we live in a studio apt. and he can't escape to his 'music room.'

Being in a diverse and urban area, the outcome for the evening was amazing. They had everyone from an Asian girl playing the piano with a beautifully strong voice....to 3 high school guys rapping (and I quote) 'If ya don't gotta North Face jacket you betta get one'...to spoken word on the subject of the pain of living in a crack house...to 3 different very white guys and girl sharing their songs on a guitar...to a Hispanic duo jammin on a ukulele (Brooke's favorite act)...to some dude who just wanted to dance to some hip-hop/rap music.

It was amazing, and close to the most fun I've had since we moved out here! It amazed me to see and experience the true diversity of our community. Everyone supported each other, encouraged one another, and patted each other on the back (isn't that what guys do?) And it was great to hear Brooke play out again...I've really missed that (even if it was only 2 songs or so.) The people there that night (there were close to 175!) were blown away by his talent! I don't blame them though....have you heard his stuff? www.brooketrisler.com

I appreciate our church. Though it was labeled an 'outreach' event, no one got up there to preach the Gospel. There wasn't even a restriction on what was said during their time. Their 'preaching' was in their actions. They just opened up their doors to the community to let them simply be who they are.