Glad 2011 Is Over

I don't know about you, but I am glad 2011 is over and in the rear-view mirror. It has been a tumultuous year for my family and me, and I will try to capture a little bit of it in a short timeline.

My year started in San Diego as XO on USS TOPEKA. As most of you know, Jeannette and the kids stayed in Silverdale to let Melissa finish high school with her friends. It worked out but left me searching for things to do on my own. One of my first trips was to Death Valley National Park in January. I used a three day weekend to drive up, visit the park, and drive back. A couple of my favorite pictures are included below. Death Valley was awesome! I think the timeframe was a very tough target because Death Valley is not a forgiving place, especially in the summer months. Trust me - it is worth visiting, and you want to be there during the winter months.

Looking out on Death Valley from Artist's Drive.

Looking out on Death Valley from Bad Water Basin.

February found my family and I burying my brother at sea outside Long Beach harbor. It was a sobering weekend that I wish was not necessary. It still hurts.

One of my favorite trips while living in San Diego was up to Joshua Tree National Park. I rode my bike, drove my truck, and probably would have walked if that was the only way up there. I am a huge fan of our National Parks, in case you haven't noticed. There is one in your backyard no matter where you live for the most part. Joshua Tree is accesible year-round, although it does get a little warm in the summer months.

A Joshua Tree - the quintessential park marquee.

Boulders, rock climbing, desert - Joshua Tree is
Awesome!

March also included a trip home for a few days, and marked the month when Melissa found out she was accepted to several schools. She selected the University of Washington, and we are now a family of Dawg lovers :)

Melissa is a Dawg!

One of my favorite San Diego pictures - a beautiful sunrise.

I deployed from April through July of this year, and visited Lima, Peru on a port call. I wish I could have spent more time there and have marked it as a place I would like to return to one day. One of the most remarkable things, in my opinion, was the amount of junk ships moored in the area around the harbor.

Junk ships moored near Lima, Peru.

My return to San Diego was a reunion with my family. Jeannette and the kids drove down to San Diego and we stayed in a beach front condo for a couple of weeks. It was a very nice time that included visits to the beach, Sea World and a Padres game at Petco Park. I was in port for two weeks and then right back out at sea again.

Danny and Melissa at Petco Park for a Padres game.

Danny and Melissa at the Midway Museum with San Diego
skyline in the background.

Melissa and Danny enjoying the beach at our rental condo.

September finally signaled my move back home to Silverdale. Trust me when I say I could not have been happier to be home. I must admit that things have changed drastically at the Allen home since I left. We now have two kids away form home, and Danny is pretty self-sufficient and it is very quiet around the house these days. Since I came home, I have travelled out to central Washington to watch Danny run in a cross country meet, celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas with the whole family, watch Stephanie graduate from college, moved Melissa off to college, and tried to get back into a routine of sorts.

Danny's cross country meet in Wenatchee.

Fall colors in the Pacific Northwest (just down the street, in fact).

Christmas lights at the Allen house.

Our beautiful daughter - a college graduate!

Merry Christmas!

I, for one, cannot wait to see what 2012 will bring! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

We have a good time in the Allen house through the Christmas holidays. It has taken on a slightly different twist over the last couple of years with me living in San Diego and the girls moving away to college. This year was the first "normal" holiday season for us in a couple of years, and it was great. We have quite a few holiday traditions that we look forward to, including Christmas cookies baked and decorated on Christmas Eve, watching The Santa Clause, eating cookies for breakfast on Christmas morning, opening our presents one at a time Christmas morning, and a nice dinner that evening. I look forward to this time of year because I love being around my family!

Christmas cookies baked Christmas Eve.

Our Christmas morning practice is to open our presents one at a time, starting with the youngest and working our way up to the oldest - then do it again! I do not know when we started doing it this way, but it has been this way in the Allen house for as long as I can remember. You might think it takes a long time, and it does, but there has never been a complaint and it makes it seem more like we are appreciating the act of giving instead of the act of receiving because everyone is paying attention to each gift.

I hope your Christmas was as enjoyable as mine was.

As we move towards the New Year, my family is looking forward to many exciting happenings. Danny will start high school in the Fall of 2012. This marks the beginning of the end as I see it! Melissa continues her education at the UW. Stephanie completes her teaching certification and commences a job search to fulfill her dream of being a teacher. And Jeannette & I celebrate our 25th anniversary in October. We are planning an Alaskan cruise this summer to celebrate!

Holiday Season Happenings

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

If you know me, you know I do not dress up very much. Dockers and a button down shirt are pretty much what I call "dressing up". Jeannette & I attended an open house at my Admiral's home last weekend with some friends, and wouldn't you know it - it was coat and tie! I own several ties, but no coats. Off to the Men's Wearhouse to find one. It all turned out well, and the evening was a great time with the open house and then dinner out with three other couples.

Jeannette & Tim

Stephanie and Melissa are home for the holidays now. I picked them up Friday evening. Melissa and I braved the Seattle Friday evening traffic to drive up to Stephanie's place in Bellingham. We enjoyed a nice dinner together before driving home. The house is full and we are full of the Holiday Spirit!

Stephanie Graduates!

Congratulations, Stephanie!

Stephanie graduated from Western Washington University today with her degree in History. Jeannette & I are so very proud of her and all she has accomplished. Stephanie has a few more quarters left to complete her classroom teaching and fulfill the requirements for her teaching certificate. She found out late last week that she will be placed in a 6th grade classroom pretty close to her apartment. She was very happy with the placement.


Jeannette, Danny, my Mom and I drove over to Seattle Friday evening to pick up Melissa from her school and then head north to spend the night in Bellingham. Weather was good but traffic was miserable - predictable on a Friday evening. We decided to stop for dinner at an Olive Garden and were assaulted by the rudest group at the table next to us. It made whatever dining experience that was left pretty grim. We finished our trip to Bellingham and called it a night.


Saturday was another pretty good weather day - kind of cold, but dry. Stephanie's graduation was very efficiently run and we were out of there in about two hours. We spent the afternoon eating lunch and then headed south without Stephanie. Both Stephanie and Melissa will be home next weekend for the holiday break. I can't wait to have them home again.


Here are some pictures from our weekend. Enjoy!

A clear night at sunset with the moon rising over
the Cascades.

Mt Rainier at sunset.

Stephanie receives her diploma.

Stephanie & Melissa immediately after Steph's graduation.

All three Allen kids.

Happy Holidays!

A portion of our holiday decorations. And yes, that's
a lizard in the picture!

    I am the Grinch of my neighborhood. I have never put up any lights outside the house in the 7 years we have lived here, mostly because I just never felt like it. But this year is different. I am home and in the spirit. So Danny and I stopped by Lowe's and got the necessary supplies to get some spirit on the front of the house. It was cold but dry as I hung lights and planted plastic snowmen. I had a lot of fun doing it and it looks good out there!
    We spent the rest of the weekend over in Seattle visiting Melissa and getting a guided tour of the campus. We saw where she works - it was a lot nicer than I imagined it to be. We are heading north to Bellingham next this coming weekend to watch Stephanie graduate from college. She still has a few months of teacher certification to get through after that. After that, looking forward to having the whole family home for the holidays :)


Happy Holidays!

White Friday!

Let me begin this by saying that I hate being around crowds. People tend to become more rude when in a group setting, or it at least seems that way to me. It just makes me crazy. So me, Danny and family friend Mike decided to get away from crowds and take a trip up to Hurricane Ridge at Olympic National Park. It just so happened that Friday was the one really nice, sunny day of the week, too. Good planning on my part! No rain on the trip, and the roads were good right up until the trip up to the visitor's center. Nothing a little four wheel drive action couldn't conquer.


Today - assemble the Christmas tree. We spent last year in a rental house in San Diego, so it will be nice to see our own ornaments on the tree!

No lifts, but plenty of snowboarders.

Looking down into the valley from Hurricane Ridge.

The roads were not too bad.

Danny and me.

Mike, Danny and me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Well, the family was home for the holiday for the first time in a couple of years. We spent last Thanksgiving in a rental house in San Diego last year, so it was nice to be cooking and cleaning my own house this year. I love this time of year, and it is much better at home. Mike came up to spend the holiday with us this year. He drove up Tuesday during a very wet storm - even by Seattle standards! It is always good to spend time with him.


This is the time of year that people usually tell you what they are thankful for. My family knows what I am thankful for already. I am thankful to have them in my life. It is what makes me, me. And I am thankful for butter. Without it, Thanksgiving would have less flavor. Dinner turned out great!


We are going out to enjoy a little bit of dry weather today. No shopping for this guy - I do not enjoy crowds on a normal day. Trying to shop today would likely result in incarceration for me.

Melissa took this on campus at UW.

I do enjoy making cranberry sauce from scratch!

I ask you - what would the day be without butter?

I am also thankful that a turkey named Tom gave
his life to make mine more enjoyable!

Holidays at Home

I am so looking forward to Thanksgiving! For the first time in a couple of years, I will be living at home for the holidays instead of "visiting". This is my favorite time of the year and the whole family will be together this year. Stephanie and Melissa are coming home, and we even have one of our closest friends, Mike, coming up to join us. Throw in the fact that the San Francisco 49ers play on Thanksgiving day this year, and it is on!


Jeannette and I attended Danny's cross country awards banquet (read potluck) last night. It was neat to see the kids together and enjoying themselves, but the coach was very long winded and it went three hours! He had to speak a couple of minutes about each of the kids. I suppose it was good for them and him, but it just dragged on and on after Danny went up there. And I missed the Big Bang Theory last night. Thank goodness for a DVR.

Fall Colors in the PNW

So who says we can't have some nice colors in our neck of the woods? I know the northeast has a spectacular show every fall - seen it for myself. Melissa and I walked through our neighborhood this afternoon to take in our own little collection of fall colors, and it was a great day for it.

Fall colors in our neighborhood.

Great day to be alive!

I Love Breakfast!

I just want to say that breakfast is probably my favorite meal of the day. I found a couple of places to indulge while I was in San Diego and have been hoping to find a nice spot up here now that I am home. Success! I found (sort of) a small, independent restaurant in Kingston that does breakfast the way I like it - big, bold, and sweet! I actually saw a post by one of my friends and decided to give it a try. The place is called the Oak Table Cafe.

The Oak Table Cafe - Kingston, WA

Breakfast #1 - Strawberry Waffle with ice cream. Oh, yeah!

Breakfast #2 - the Apple Pancake. The picture is good, but doesn't do it justice. Danny and I couldn't finish the whole thing!

We will go back!


In other news, I managed to get one good ride in to watch Danny run in a cross country meet on the other side of the mountains. It was a beautiful day - the kind that makes every other state jealous! Perfect sunshine, very few clouds, and 75F. I have included a few pictures of the day below. Enjoy!

Mt Rainer at sunrise - notice the Seattle skyline, including the Space Needle, in the foreground.

The Cascade mountains at sunrise.

If it looks like there are a lot of kids getting ready to run, this picture only captured about two-thirds of them!

Danny running his meet.

And a strong finish!

Danny really enjoys his running. Unfortunately, he is getting so good at it, he kicks my butt! I am hoping to build my endurance a bit so we can go running together.