Skagit Valley's mild climate, evenly distributed rainfall and fertile farmlands provide an ideal environment for bulb growing, primarily daffodils, tulips and irises. The total amount of acreage devoted to bulb and flower growing in the Skagit Valley has increased greatly over the years, although it is now threatened by constantly encroaching development. In 1945, just 325 acres were planted with a value of approximately $300,000. By 1997, approximately 7,000 acres were used for bulb farming, with a value of $42 million.

Many Bloch family festivities happened this past November. Mom's birthday, Thanksgiving, and then Dad's birthday. And we had a great time throughout!

2005 was the year of family celebration. We celebrated Mom's birthday down in the Springs, and then headed up to Estes Park to celebrate Nancy's big 50th birthday, complete with sisters, a couple of brothers, ghosts and even some very large elk!

Las Vegas is indeed a strange place. Particularly true when we visited Sin City for the annual Consumers Electronics Show. Acres of electronic goodies as far as the eye can see! Oh yeah, and we saw some shows as well...

This was the summer of family. We hosted both sets of parents, Rich's aunt, and his brother: all within a few short weeks. It was great! We all had lots of fun, and did a lot of sightseeing, and of course, ate some good food!

Some pictures from a short trip through the Yakima Valley wine country in south-central Washington State. The weather was beautiful, and smell of grapes and apples was in the air, and of course, the wine tasted great!

For Rich's 40th birthday, we traveled to Washington, D.C., and visited dozens of historic sites and museums. Best of all, Rich's birthday dinner was celebrated in Georgetown at a very tasty (and very highly-rated, and we agree) Italian restaurant. A delicious way to turn forty!

Where in the world is Tofino? Well, it's on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. To even get onto the island took us some time (several hours of driving, then a couple of hours on a car ferry). Once on the island, it was another several hours of driving over some pretty interesting terrain! But... it was all worth it. A very beautiful and serene place to relax, hike and walk the Pacific ocean beaches.

Rich and Diane's Valentine's Getaway to Washington's Lake Quinault and Hoh Rainforests on the Olympic Peninsula.

Rich surprised me with a romantic birthday weekend at the Rosario Resort on Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands. What a wonderful surprise when I found out we were getting there via seaplane!

Our trip to Las Vegas. We spent 6 days and 5 fun-filled nights in September, 2002.

Our many trips to Leavenworth, Washington over the years for the Christmas Lighting Festival.

After eight years, we finally decided to return to San Francisco. Over the five days that we spent in the city, we walked many miles, and celebrated the Chinese New Year with lots of food and fun!

Here's our trip to Yellowstone National Park in early September 2003. We decided to drive so we could have our trusty jeep with us. It was great fun. The round-trip drive totalled 1854 miles: two days out, and a grueling one day return (just over 12 hours, ending in a nasty thunderstorm in the Cascade Mountains).

Here's our Colorado road-trip showing off more of my favorite places to Rich: Hot Springs Lodge & Pool (Glenwood Springs), Colorado National Monument (Grand Junction), Black Canyon of the Gunnison (Montrose), and the Royal Gorge Bridge (Canon City).

Rich and I had our belated third wedding anniversary celebration up at Paradise Inn on Mount Rainier.

Our 1300 mile, 5 day road-trip down Oregon's Costal Highway 101 (363 miles) to California's Redwood Forest, and back up to Oregon's Crater Lake.

Some pics from our trip to Disneyworld in January of 2004. After spending four days with both of our families, it was time to go play...

After my parents' 50th wedding anniversary celebration, I got to kidnap Rich and take him to all of my old favorite hideouts in the Colorado Rockies! Some highlights below are from Idaho Springs, Twin Lakes, Leadville, Aspen, Winter Park, Rocky Mountain National Park and Red Rocks.

Our annual family reunion. This year, it was in Glen Arbor, Michigan. We all had a great time!

Some 4th of July fun with the Bloch (and Cotten) family. This was the week before Mom and Dad Bloch had their 40th wedding anniversary. What a great week!

Here are some pictures from our two family reunions in Florida. On the east coast, we spent several days with the Diane's family, the Cottens and the Blochs. Then on the Gulf coast, we visited with Rich's side of the family: the Blochs (no known connection with Diane's Blochs... though it does make things interesting and even a little intriguing) and the Valenzianos.

Rich's parents' 40th anniversary celebration in Chicago. Friends and family came in from around the country, including us, of course.