A Merry Christmas, 2007

Christmas Eve and the day prior were spent in Auburn at my parents house. We baked, rested, played with the animals, opened presents, and of course, cooked and ate! It was very nice that all of us were together, I consider that a great blessing!









On Christmas day, my wish of a white christmas became a reality, well, sort of. There was a dusting of snow and flurries throughout the morning/afternoon!



I ate breakfast with mom and dad, visited Levi's family, then headed up to Tyler's parents in Bothell. We enjoyed our visit, the meal, listed to old Christmas records, played Apples to Apples, and ate lots of tasty desserts :)

Bellevue Botanical Gardens

Last Friday, Tyler and I celebrated Christmas, Bellevue style. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory and saw/heard the live drummers in Bellevue Square! Very cool!



After dinner, we saw Garden D'Lights at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens!

An event-filled weekend

I am thankful to have been so productive this weekend, but exhausted at the thought that it is only Monday afternoon right now! :)

On Friday, Tyler and I cooked a tasty new Rachel Ray recipe ~ Chicken with Wild Mushroom Balsamic Cream sauce. Yumm-o, as Rachel would say!

Saturday was packed full of emotion, shall we say. We began by attending a Cookie Bake with most of my coworkers. There were so many goodies. Here are a few pictures to capture the fun.









We headed off to Nori's memorial service afterwards. Nori would have loved that we baked cookies beforehand, since she loved to bake and often shared her delicious cookies with us.

On Saturday evening, Becca and I joined Angie at the Yella Beak Tavern in good 'ol Enumclaw to celebrate after her pinning ceremony! She completed her BSN this quarter at SU. Becca also had cause to celebrate her first quarter completed at SU. We danced, played horseshoes, chatted with friends, and of course, drank Jagermeister!

On Sunday, Becca and I decorated the Christmas tree at my parents' house. Here is a close-up of some of the ornaments.



Happy almost Christmas to everyone :)

Thanks to my secret santa!

At work each year, we hold a Secret Santa gift exchange. I love trying to keep a secret, getting to know my coworkers better, and most of all the reveal party. This year and last, Linda has been my Secret Santa. I really appreciate her thoughtfulness. At the holiday breakfast, I received my final gifts which were cozy socks and a cozy pink santa hat from Victoria's Secret.



Thanks, Linda!

Christmas Ships

Beth, Tyler, and I bundled up and headed over to Alki Beach on Saturday evening to see the Christmas Ships.

What a fun experience, despite the freezing cold!!! There was a bonfire, free Starbucks Peppermint Hot Cocoa, Carolers, a live nativity scene, Santa on a Harley...

Who ordered this crazy weather??

I am house and pet-sitting in Madrona for the next two weeks. The dogs are schnauzers, sister and brother, and they love attention! It has been an enlightening experience, one that highlights the fact that I am not ready to be a dog owner. Of course, that doesn’t mean that I won’t want to pet sit from time to time, and we all know that I will continue to oooh and ahhhh over the adorable dogs that I see. These dogs are super cute, as you see here. So, I can’t complain too much.






Seattle received its first dose of snow this weekend! Tyler and I went to lunch with our friend Garin on Saturday and the weather turned from a few tiny flakes to about 1 ½ inches of accumulation very quickly!



Later in the afternoon when we stopped by SU…





We ate at Cactus in Madison Park, which might just be my new favorite Mexican restaurant. The reason: they serve Chilaquiles, I am certain that Amy will remember this tasty dish from our host-mom Lupita in Mexico. These chilaquiles were different than hers, but quite tasty nonetheless!

In the evening on Saturday, Tyler and I received word that his neighbor and friend, Nori, passed away. We spent some time reminiscing about how she touched us and the community with her spirit and her service. She will be missed, and our prayers go out to her family...

To top it all off, Seattle is now hit with huge amounts of rainfall and many are facing flooding problems. I hope the weather calms down soon...

Here are the answers...

What do you get if you deep fry Santa Claus?
Krisp Kringle (way to go, Amy!)

Why does Santa have a big garden?
So he can ho-ho-ho!

Where do snowmen go to dance?
At the snow ball (yahoo for Jen and Tyler!)

Why does Father Christmas go down the chimney?
Because it soots him!

a little holiday humor for my readers

1. What do you get if you deep fry Santa Claus?

2. Why does Santa have a big garden?

3. Where do snowmen go to dance?

4. Why does Father Christmas go down the chimney?


Any ideas? I will post the answers soon!