Christmas in the Northwest.....

Yesterday, we arrived home after spending one night at my mom's house. It's about a 2.5 hour drive to get there, and a beautiful one. We think we saw a seal swimming next to the bridge, and we saw a bald eagle, too. The Puget Sound region is beautiful, especially now, with the Cascades dusted with snow.

We got to see my grandfather who is almost 93! We had four generations sitting around the table eating homemade chicken and noodles. Mmmmmm. My mom made three kinds of pies, and we brought some Christmas cookies. My grandfather talked about his younger days of learning the plumbing business, first working in Seattle, and then starting his own plumbing store/business in Port Angeles, which operated for 23 years. Since his stroke, he has a little bit of speech difficulty, but it certainly doesn't stop him from sharing, which I'm glad. As we were eating, he stopped, and said emphatically, "We are truly blessed." Then, my mom stopped and said how wonderful it is that we came and we were spending time together.....Nice moment. What I wanted this year....

Then, we opened a few presents, talked some more and watched several episodes of "The Office." HAHA! That show is genius. The next morning, we stayed in our pajamas until 11:00, has an egg and bacon breakfast, and talked some more....

Today, my own little family is going out to dinner to the Cheesecake Factory. I haven't eaten there before, so I am looking forward to it. I didn't even know they served anything but cheesecake! :) Then, we are going to a Living Nativity. I am so excited about that. It will be another first for me. I think that it's a good opportunity to turn out hearts and minds toward the Lord, and all that He has done for us, with the sending of his son Jesus. Tomorrow, we will attending Christmas Eve candlelight service and continue this time of reflection and celebration. It's truly the best part for me.

I regret that we didn't take pictures of my grandfather during our visit, but these are some pics of our trip to my mom's house....



From left to right: my brother, Melanie, Amanda and my mom



My 13-year-old brother in the new sweatshirt we got him...




Melanie and Joe (my brother), who look more like siblings...



My Joe dozing on the chair....HAHA!!



Ben and I....



Ben wanted to open presents SO badly! We decided to draw names as to the order, and Ben ended up being LAST! HAHA!!



Joe with my mom's husband in the background...They're not very photogenic apparently...HAHA!! :)



Ben received a Lego Bionicle, which he put together with great focus......Notice the train that encircles the Christmas tree. My mom's husband is a big train enthusiast.....By the way, the house was previously owned by my grandparents. My mom grew up there, and purchased the home after my grandmother died. I have many childhood memories of waking up there on Christmas morning, and peeking down (the bedrooms are upstairs), to see what was under the tree....Then, my grandfather would make us all eggs fried in bacon grease, bacon, oatmeal and my grandmother's homemade bread with homemade freezer jam. The best breakfast you ever had....