Home for the Holidays

We have been going non-stop since we arrived in the US on December 1st. We’ve visited multiple friends and family, stayed in their homes, attended a birthday party, joined friends and neighbors for holiday gatherings, celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary at our favorite restaurant, and even visited a National Monument while we were in San Diego; and we’ll be here for another two weeks!

Our adventure started in Seattle where we stayed downtown for a few days to acclimate to the time change and to do a little shopping. Downtown was all decked out for the holidays.

While there we enjoyed a delicious lunch at Purple Cafe and Wine Bar.

After a few days downtown we headed to La Conner to celebrate our anniversary. La Conner is a charming town located on the Swinomish Channel in northwest Washington. We stayed at Channel Lodge, a beautiful hotel situated right next to the channel, and had a delicious meal at Nell Thorn Waterfront Bistro and Bar.

The Oyster Bar on Chuckanut Drive is our all time favorite restaurant in the world, so of course, we had to enjoy a meal there too.

Next we spent several days each with dear friends Shirley and Jim, and then with my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew. We even attended our nephew’s birthday party with a bunch of very active eight year old boys.

Our next stop was San Diego to visit my sister, nieces, nephew-in-law, and to meet our sweet, 20 month old grand-nephew for the first time. We had such an amazing time with them; we laughed, told stories, ate yummy food, wandered through charming towns, and visited Cabrillo National Monument. Getting to know the newest member of our family was such a joy; he’s super smart, sweet, has an infectious smile, and is a true joy to be around; and bien sûr, my opinion is completely unbiased. 😉

After our stay in San Diego we flew to Portland where we spent time with our daughter, son-in-law, and dear friends, Tim and Lisa. Our daughter and son-in-law treated us to a walk down Peacock Lane, a street in Portland that gets all decked out for the holidays, and dinner at Papa Haydns, a Portland classic known for their decadent desserts.

We had another exquisite meal at Clark Lewis also in Portland. The diet will have to start soon!

It’s been absolutely wonderful to be here; I feel like I have had a constant smile on my face since we arrived. We’re looking forward to many more holiday activities over the next few weeks, and more time with family and friends.

I hope your holiday season is equally lovely, and filled with everything that warms your heart.

Tricia