Home for the Holidays

Call us crazy - we booked a flight back to Seattle from Florida, so that we could spend the holidays with family and friends.  Though actually, the day we left Tampa it was almost as cold there as it was in Seattle - down to 37 degrees in the morning.  Florida has been having cold winters lately.  A result of climate change, perhaps?  The local residents complain of unseasonable cold right along with the snowbirds.
  It was really great to see some of our friends after so long on the road.  There were many friends that we were unable to see because of time restraints (and bad colds that kept us laying low), and we promise to contact you all when we return (you know who you are!).  And although the weather was not wonderful, and we all got colds, the fun of holiday visiting made up for it all.

Of course, the most important family event was the Christmas celebration with the two granddaughters, Kate and Riley.  Here they are with the first presents that they selected for the night before.  The celebration went as expected, with lots of excitement and wrapping paper flying in all directions.

Kate the horsewoman

But there were other family events as well.  Here's Kate at one of her riding lessons - a favorite pastime.  Kate has been practicing very steadily for months now and is showing some great progress.  She has both enthusiasm and aptitude for the horse life, and it is great fun to see her skills develop.  There has been a lot of improvement since we left on our trip and we are thrilled to see her progress.   She handles horses twice as tall as she is with skill and aplomb.

Riley is reaching that golden age when the baby teeth come out and get replaced.  We had a lot of dealings with the tooth fairy over the holidays.   And she had been practicing her song for the school holiday pageant.  Here she is singing with her classmates. 

While we were in Seattle, we visited friends on Vashon.  Our friends John and May hosted an open house for us, and our Vashon friends visited throughout the day.  It was terrific to see familiar faces again and catch up on the busy life of the Vashon community.  And we took a lovely walk on our old familiar Point Robinson together.  

Some friends from Canada came down for a visit, too.  We  had a pleasant afternoon together, and then in the evening we went to see the garden of lights that the Bellevue Garden Club does every year.  I was very impressed with their work - it brings holiday lighting to a whole new level.  They recreate gardens, ponds, waterfalls and streams, and of course plants with the lights.  It takes them all year to put it together, and the last couple of months before Christmas is dedicated to setting it up.  A lovely piece of work.  I don't know how we missed it all these years.

  But in the end, it is always about family and friends gathering for celebration and fun.

On our next post, we'll talk about our stay in Florida during January and the beginning of our return trip.  You can see a map of the return trip on our blog - look for the special page with that map.