Ta Prohm

This temple is famous for the trees that have grown up inside it and destroyed it. The entire site is overgrown with trees.

It is unreal. The first big tree we saw growing over the rock was breathtaking

Then we posed for some silly pictures. Matt really liked this stone door complete with eerie spider webs

Angkor Thom

The next day, we went to Angkor Thom. Angkor Thom literally translates to "Big Town". It is a walled city with a perimeter of 5 miles.

You can ride an elephant from the gate to the center, but we were too cheap.

At the center of the city is Baylon that has a temple with hundreds of faces carved into the towers.

Inside we saw some monks dressed in orange robes. A monk asked us to pose in his picture too. We really don't know why. Outside, there is a walkway with elephants carved into the side.

Angkor Wat

After recovering from a very long flight from Seattle, through Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) we went to explor Angkor Wat.

The mode of transport we chose was the Tuk Tuk which is a small cart pulled by a motorcycle.

Our first stop was Angkor Wat. They were clearing the lilies out of the pond, so there were clumps of these beautiful flowers. Jennie has one of the lily flowers in her hair.

Nile and Matt are sitting on the steps inside the temple.

These are some of the bas-reliefs carved into the rock of one of the galleries. This depicts a story about people pulling on a snake to keep a mountain from sinking while they churn an ocean of milk.

Aliyah

Aliyah came to visit Seattle from New York. She joined Sarah, Matt, and Nile for afternoon coffee and dessert. Sarah had a dessert called "Sarah Bernhard."

New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, we went out to see the fireworks. On our way down the street, there is this fountain that someone had put a bottle of soap into. It made a lot of bubbles and almost looked like snow.

The fireworks were launched from the space needle. It was a short, but nice show. At times, it looked like the space needle was exploding, but it didn't fall over.

On the way back, there were a whole bunch of people playing in the foam around the fountain.

Joel's greenhouse

Nile went to see her friend Joel's green house (on his birthday). He has a nice greenhouse with hundreds of plants. It's amazing how clean and organized he keeps it. In the middle is a really cute curly spined plant, and on the right are tiny baby ones. He thinks he has about 600 plants in his collection.

He used a sea snail shell as a pot. He also has art work sprinkled througout the pots. He wants to open a cactus and succulent nusery business one day. If anyone wants any, I can get you in touch with him. :-)

Christmas in Creston

We went to Matt's parents place in Creston California for Christmas. The weather was beautiful: clear skies and 72 degrees. We were in short sleaves in the shade, and it was really nice.

Matt's niece Claire was there too. She is just about to start walking now. Her favorite toy was this box which she used to stand up and even dance. Matt's mom knit the hat, and Nile knit the flower. We had a really nice Christmas.

Donuts!

Matt and Sarah both love donuts, so Nile made stuffed felt donuts for them to put on their desk. Matt's is raspberry glazed (with sprinkles), and Sarah's is the feather boa (coconut on chocolate).

Sweet and Sour Pork

Now that Nile has more time during the day, she has been making fabulous dinners. This is her sweet and sour pork. She got her recipe from Fumi-chan who is a friend with a fabulous food blog. She pressure cooked the pork a day before. Boy, was it tasty. Matt loves sweet and sour pork.

Snow Day!

It snowed in Seattle! This is a little out of date, but we forgot to post it when it happened. (It actually happened Dec 1.) Here is our building in the snow. It's just starting to stick.

Nile took Cooper out since Sarah and Matt were at work. He wasn't as enthusiastic as we thought he would be; it was his first snow! The conservatory was beautiful in the snow.

When Matt got home, it was starting to warm up, and it was a perfect temperature for building a snow man. The snow stuck together so well, it was just a matter of rolling it around.

Holiday Cookies

Ronald and Sarah came over for cookie baking. Ronald showed off his expertise from working in a bakery. Sarah suggested that Matt write a computer program to optimize the cookie cutter layout.

We had two batches of Kate's fabulous recipe and an assortment of decorations.

Clockwise from the top: The headless bleading reindeer, grapes, Cooper, snow man, black sheep sleigh with pressents, happy face, wooly mamoth, green rhino (note the creative horn), Earth, Sarah's soccer ball, Santa, teddy, wreath, and in the middle, a pear tree in a partidge. Last, but not least, the New York City snow man, and the house that Ronald built.

Decking the halls

Happy Holidays! Tonight we put up our Christmas decorations. Behind Nile is our mini tree named Sprig. It came off of the big tree they have at the Conservatory. Nile didn't have the heart to throw it out because it smells so good.

new curtains

Matt made us curtains for our bedroom this weekend. We braved the after-Thanksgiving sale and got this really pretty fabric that matches the color of our bed.