Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Weekend at Suncadia


Hello, dear friends, we are coming to the end 
of the beautiful month of October.  

My family thought it would be fun to celebrate 
all the October birthdays (we have 3, including me)
by renting a lovely, rustic home in the 
Cascade mountains, here in WA state. 

They chose Suncadia, the beautiful resort 
where my youngest son and his wife were married
just 3 years ago. 


It was a windy, rainy weekend,
which made for some dramatic clouds as 
we drove over 3015 ft. Snoqualmie Pass
This time of year you never know whether or not
you will encounter snow on the pass, but we 
were lucky.


Here we are approaching the summit.


Once over the pass, we could see a break in the clouds.



We found ourselves on a high plateau full of
beautiful fall color from black cottonwood, cherry, maple
and larch.


After just a two hour drive from home, we find our exit.


We arrive at our rented house with the late afternoon sunshine,
which was the only sun we saw the rest of the weekend.

No matter, we had plenty of room to stretch out and relax
with 5 bedrooms and two large living areas on 3 floors.


The house was in a lovely community of rustic
homes with interesting architecture.


Once inside, we all dumped our luggage and
chose a bedroom.

I wish that I took more photos inside,
but you can see a small glimpse, here,
of the beautiful woodwork.

The lower level was built into the hillside
and opened out to the back views.


The covered deck off the main level.


Pretty forestland.

This area was not too far from the devastating wildfires
of this past summer.

We had one of the driest summers on record......
especially on this side of the mountains.


A nice place to sit.


The view.

We were on a high ridge with a deep river valley below.



The neighboring houses on each side.


Large windows brought the views inside.


My little grandson's try to escape :)


The loves of my life.
xoxo


My four with grandchildren....soon to be joined
by twins.
xoxo


My grandson's by birth, my granddaughter's
by choice.
xoxo


Happy hearts.


We managed to take a nice walk in between
rain showers.







We admired the houses on our walk.

This was my favorite.


It started to rain quite heavily on our way back. 

The orange markers are to keep vehicles off the landscaping. 


Each home was different and used several types of 
siding, including rock, wood and weathered galvanized 
metal, which you can see here. 


They all had big garages and gabled roofs.

I could definitely live here.

You know, with the spare millions
 that I keep under my mattress.
Haha!

With a big family like mine to split the cost,
you can afford to rent one
for the weekend, though!


We make it back, thoroughly drenched, to
delicious smells coming from the kitchen.
Everyone was in charge of making a meal
and we ate very well!
Home-made sauce and spaghetti the first night,
and a taco bar with all the fixings, the second.
Also, full breakfasts and lunches, along with
yummy baked goods and snacks.

We played games and laughed and talked deep into the night.

And had a wonderful birthday celebration with gifts and
chocolate ice-cream cake.

All too soon it was time to go.


As we make our way through the gilded
mountains towards home,


We count our many blessings
of time spent together,
love for one another,
and a new generation to carry on the
hopes and dreams of all of our ancestors,
who risked their lives to come
to this beautiful country,
so that their children and children's children
could enjoy the fruits of their labor
and live in the land of the free.

xoxo


Today I am linking with:

Thankful Thursday

Won't you join in?

xoxo



47 comments:

  1. Looks like a lovely place to spend some time.
    Merle.................

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  2. Fantastic, what a way to celebrate. Happy Birthday. x

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  3. I am thrilled with your post,how beautiful!What a marvelous and precious time...God bless you all...Happy Birthday,Karen!Thanks for sharing happiness!Hugs.

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  4. Wow what a fantastic place and awesome to spend time there with your family ,and wishing you a happy birthday also my friend xx

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  5. Hello, what a lovely place. It is in a gorgeous area. Your family is beautiful, the grandchildren are so cute. Happy Birthday to you! Happy Thursday, enjoy your day!

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  6. Dear Karen, Congratulations on your birthday.
    Magical Location You are a great family
    best regards
    Rita

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  7. Such a lovely post. You are blessed with a beautiful family and a big heart. Belated Birthday wishes, such a stunning way to celebrate.

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  8. What a beautiful family break in a very picturesque area.
    Sending you belated Birthday Wishes and wishing you a wonderful weekend :)xx

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  9. Happy birthday to you.. Such a lovely place to relax..

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  10. What a fabulous place to celebrate your birthdays! I wish all of you a very Happy Birthday. A few years ago I stayed at Suncadia lodge to attend a Christmas party. It was so beautiful and surprising to see the changes to the area I grew up around. Being from Ellensburg, we called this area the upper county; Cle Elum, Roslyn and Ronald. Cle Elum was small but very large compared to Roslyn and Ronald. It was so different back then in the 60's and 70's. I believe the dot com people changed the landscape as they ventured over the mountain to build vacation homes. The home you stayed in was beautiful. And, those views are amazing. I'm so happy that you were able to spend such a magical time with your dear family. Hugs, Pat

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  11. What a fun way to spend time with your family and for your birthday. Happy Birthday!!

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  12. Dear Karen ~ You and your family always have such lovely get-aways and such good times together. You all are richly blessed.

    Happy Fall ~ FlowerLady

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  13. I so enjoyed looking at and reading this lovely post.
    You have a beautiful family and are so fortunate to be able to spend it together like this. Happy hearts indeed!

    Your photographs are all so lovely ...
    Sending my good wishes

    All the best Jan

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  14. Hi Karen!
    Finally catching up on all of your posts. ;) Been missing you.

    What a cool place for a full family getaway!! Love it - fellow October birthday Girl. Your family is so beautiful and I love all the fun you all share together.

    YOur grandsons are getting so big already! Where does the time go? Family truly is the best blessing of all, aren't they?

    I hope you've been having a very blessed week. xoxo

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  15. Dearest Karen,
    A very warm and cozy home for such a large, extended family!
    Glad you found this and enjoyed quality family time.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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  16. I cannot tell you how lucky you are to have a family to enjoy this time with. How WONDERFUL that you can all come together and spend time like this. Thank you for linking up today and have a great weekend.

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  17. Oh Karen, how I love your birthday idea...Happy Birthday to you and the others in your family with October birthdays! Lovely scenery. What a gorgeous house to rent! I do remember the photos from the wedding...different time of year to enjoy! Great family photos too.

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  18. I see the sign for Suncadia every time we head to northeastern Washington and I've heard from a few friends who have stayed there and enjoyed it. That's a great idea for getting everyone together in a comfortable spot. The colors have been so great this fall. Twins!! How exciting.

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  19. Dear Karen, my sweet friend, what a wonderful place for spending time together with all of the family! iIt looks beautiful!
    Glad, you had such a great time, and thank you for all the lovely pictures!
    Have a wonderful weekend, take care,
    sending Love and Hugs and Blessings, Claudia xo

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  20. What a wonderful place for a family vacation. You have a beautiful family, and it's such a special gift to spend time together. I loved seeing the photo of you, too. You are lovely.
    Happy Birthday from a fellow October birthday celebrant!

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  21. How wonderful you and all your family could relax in a most beautiful house, in a most beautiful setting and be together and enjoy each others' company; this is indeed special. Gorgeous photos of stunning scenery, Karen. Those clouds, how amazing!

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  22. What a lovely place to celebrate birthdays and to spend time with the family! The view is beautiful... but not any better than you have from your home. :)
    Thank you for your comments, especially the one on my post about trees. I think planting a tree in dedication to a loved one is the most beautiful thing we can do. Shrubs or perennials would be lovely too but trees, as longest-living organisms, are the most engaging choice. May you have moments filled with gratitude and happy memories, when you decorate the tree.
    Blessings and hugs! xx

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  23. There is no better place to be than with family, sweet friend. What a beautiful trip all of you had and oh, how your grandchildren are growing! You must have had such a precious time with everyone :)

    Thank you for sharing your lovely photos with us. And may I just say Happy belated Birthday!

    Love and hugs to you!

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  24. Such beautiful photos!! Isn't this such a wonderful time of the year? You are so blessed with such a beautiful family. What a wonderful idea to rent a house together. Have a nice weekend!! xo

    ~ Wendy
    http://Crickleberrycottage.blogspot.com/

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  25. Karen, how wonderful that you got to rent a home in the mountains for all the birthdays. And a happy birthday to you too! The clouds are beautiful over the rainy weekend. The home you stayed at is so nice, and I am noticing all the details in the wood. Yes, wouldn't it be nice to live here or even have it as a second home throughout the year? So fun that you played games and talked and spent time each other. And the baked goodies made it even better. That's a great idea to share with the cooking duties. Oh, how I love family get-togethers, Karen. This looks like one to remember. : )

    ~Sheri

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  26. You're the 2nd one who is celebrating a birthday this week that I've visited with blog posts!!! Looks like a terrific place to go and celebrated with loved ones. My favorite photo today just hasta be the lone pine framed in the tall trees.

    Of course the smiling happy faces are super too.

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  27. The mountains are beautiful, even though it was rainy all weekend :(. Happy Birthday month Karen! So are you a Libra? I have a soft spot for Libras, as my grandmother, my all time favorite person, was one. Oh, and so is my all time favorite fur baby, my grand dog Charlie.

    xxx

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  28. Dear Karen, thank you sharing such a beautiful family gathering and Happy Birthday times.
    What a wonderful idea, to share the housestay - a delightful spot too, such views.
    The family photos are so precious and, yes, there's so much to be grateful for. Hugs, Sue xx

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  29. Liebe Karen,
    welch eine tolle, herrliche Familie Du hast!!! Es war eine ganz tolle Idee, dass Ihr alle zusammen in diesem schönen Haus die Oktober-Geburtstage gefeiert habt! Auch meinen herzlichen Glückwünsche dazu!!! Ihr werdet mit Sicherheit noch in vielen Jahren an dieses wundervolle Fest denken!
    Alles Liebe
    Heidi

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  30. Oh Karen...such a special family time. It looks incredibly beautiful there and spending time with loved ones is a wonderful getaway! Your beautiful family is growing every day...twins! I smiled all the way through this post! xoxo

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  31. Karen, what a gorgeous weekend away. The scenery is amazing and I am glad that it survived the fires. The house you rented looks so peaceful (even with the grands running around!). I am glad you had a memorable birthday! Thank you for sharing it with us. xo

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  32. That's a lovely way to celebrate! You picked a great place with wonderful scenery.

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  33. The beauty of the PNW is always so wonderful, no matter what the season! I feel so blessed to live her. It is so inspiring at times. You have such a lovely family. That you for sharing with us all!

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  34. Oh how wonderful the whole family could get together and celebrate in such a beautiful area, wow that did look like a lovely place to stay, so nice you were able to get out too even with the rain. Beautiful Autumn pictures. Happy Birthday!!!

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  35. Happy Birthday, dear Karen, and I can't think of a better way to celebrate the October birthdays than going to that wonderful area. The home was gorgeous and the views, oh my, the views, were spectacular. I know you're thankful for such a beautiful time with your loving family.

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  36. What a beautiful family you have. The scenery in your pictures is quite stunning. Happy birthday xx

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  37. You are TRULY BLESSED dear Karen!!!

    Looking at your beautiful pRECIOUS family make me think that LIFE is BEAUTIFUL if two people plant their relationships in the ground of lOVE and TRUST and grow their family on the strong bases of care ,devotion ,loyalty and sincerity!!!

    You have inspiring way of living my friend which add beauty ,love and peace to this world from it's own part.

    and it matters lot to make a Better world on this earth.

    I loved the photo of Happy Hearts who seem to shine with peace and pride and gratitude to have their beautiful family around.

    Magical place you chose for celebrating birthdays my friend.
    heartiest congrats to each magnificent soul ,may you all see many many more to come ,amen

    Loved the each shot you shared Karen,truly delightful!

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  38. sorry for mistake in spelling of word "PRECIOUS" in my comment above !

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  39. What a lovely place to spend time with your family. The autumn colors were very pretty. To bad about the rain but it didn't seem to damper your fun.

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  40. Awe, glad you could have such beautiful views while enjoying your family.

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  41. What a wonderful way to celebrate the family birthdays. That's my favourite thing to do, bring everyone together to enjoy each others company :)

    Diana

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  42. Looks blissful, and with your loved ones, just perfect! x

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  43. Dear Karen, I enjoyed seeing the pictures of Snoqualmie and all of the beautiful fall colors on your drive ...what a precious thing for your family to do to get together like this in October for all of the birthdays in October. Such beautiful pictures of all your children and grandchildren! Nothing better than to have a family time like this together! I imagine the walk in the rain was rather fun and exhilarating and looking at all of the different houses there. The weather doesn't always cooperate but it's amazing how the Fall colors still shine even with dreary skies. Happy birthday to you dear friend!

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  44. Happy Birthday to you and your family members who have October birthday, Karen! I am so glad you got to celebrate in such a beautiful place. Thank you for letting us enjoy your location as well through your lovely post. My husband's parents rented houses several times to try to gather as many as possible of their children and grandchildren for family celebrating and some good memories were made around beautiful Lake Tahoe, CA. I am glad you were born, dear Karen! xx

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  45. what a wonderful and calm place! I would love to spend some time there!

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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