An Embarrassment of Riches...

On our way out to Chelan in September, Pastor Paul called us up and asked if we would be okay with the church community hosting a wedding reception for us and our response, was, "Yes, that would be awesome!" Little did we know what a party it would be. Our wonderful neighbors, Cathy and Bill, have a beautifully landscaped backyard where they hosted all of us. Our friends from the church brought many kinds of delicious desserts, and, to our surprise, showered us with lovely gifts (Lake Chelan wine and cheese, a Washington state parks entrance pass, homemade jam, a sushi gift card, among others). What an amazing welcome by our new community!

Here's how this story began for us. Martin stands up in church one day and says that he would like to invite us to a party at his house to check out his new tower. Your reaction may be the same as mine at the time. "Who's Martin?" and, "He's having a party to show people what?" It turns out that Martin is a very creative, resourceful person who has taken a giant water tube, turned it up on its side with a crane that he acquired, and built it into a playhouse-like 40-foot tall tower! Now, if you are one of Martin's kids, or anybody for that matter, you're thinking, "Sweet!" 

Can you find Anders in the photo?

Inside the tower, there is a kitchen at the bottom, Soren's room above it, Anna's room above that and then Martin's room at the top which has a 360-degree view of the surrounding hills, because, by the way, Martin's house is way at the top of a mountain. There's one way up the tower--the ladder. Anders is standing on the top floor and I'm on the ground (in the kitchen). 

Here is the view from Martin's house. If you look closely you might be able to see the town of Chelan, way down by the lake. :)

If you have heard of Chelan, other than from reading my blog, you most likely know it for its fruit, and in particular, its apples. When we were invited to a cider pressing party by a couple who has a beautiful home on the lake we gladly accepted. 

We combined 

Winter Bananas and Honeycrisp Apples by tossing them into the shredder and then turning the press that produced the fresh cider. We took home about 3 gallons of cider, plenty to enjoy over the winter. 

One day, before we left for Washington, Pastor Paul told us over the phone, "Chelan is a unique place, we really have an embarrassment of riches here." From that moment on I figured Chelan had to be pretty cool for him to say that! So, as Anders and I continue to write many a Thank You card from our wedding, we decided to motivate ourselves by checking out one of the beautiful wineries we kept driving by. We set up shop in the sunshine, and with a couple flights of KARMA vineyards wine, scribbled away until the sun went down...