Looking back I am not sure how we crammed so much into 4 days. Maybe it was the fact that I had a “break” from school so that pressure was off, maybe it was because we were in so many different locations, maybe it was just because it was so dang fun that we managed to fill every moment and make the weekend stretch to much more than 4 days.
Thursday was real Thanksgiving, and we did it up right. Matt’s parent’s hosted 21 people, including my parents and grandma, at their house for hours of eating and laughing and holding Matt’s cousin’s new baby. I brought a sticky date pudding (best one I have made yet!) and Matt brought two huge pans of stuffing. Between bites, we visited with aunts and uncles, and talked about what has been going on in everyone’s busy lives. I love how holidays are events designed to visit with people.
After three helpings of dessert we finally were motivated enough to waddle out to the car to drive home. My parents had carpooled with us, so they dropped us at our car before heading home to Ferndale.
Matt worked on Friday, so I did too. We had a team meeting for school in the morning, and I cranked through a few hours of systems modeling to prep for it. Then cleaned the house so that Brian and Jenny, our newlywed friends, could crash at our house that night on their way home from their Puerto Rican honeymoon. I took the bus downtown in the torrential down pouring rain so that Matt and I could hit the road as soon as he was off. 1:30, we were on the road. We stopped in Edmonds to pick up my Christmas gift from Matt: an antique typesetter’s drawer to make a jewelry cabinet out of! We made one more stop at REI before the final stretch home, where we were celebrating the WSU Apple Cup victory!
We came home to another feast, this time prime rib with all sorts of wonderful trimmings. Mom sure can cook! We watched baby movies and ate and drank wine from Troy’s recent shipment. His business in CA really seems to be taking off. I sure am proud of that brother of mine.
Saturday was Thanksgiving round 2! Turkey, two kinds of stuffing, pies, beans, sweet potatoes, salad, fresh cranberry sauce, rolls…and more people. So you think we spent all day in the kitchen? Hardly! We spent the morning picking Christmas trees in the back 40, then stacking wood outside. The house smelled wonderful by the time we finally came in…and amazingly, we had worked up an appetite! (after eating so much the previous 36 hours I was surprised!).
By 3:00 guests started to arrive, including my parent’s dance teachers, and my middle school science teacher and his wife. We shared stories of recent adventures and drank a bunch more wine. Dinner was epic, and looked stunning served on my great grandmother’s gold rimmed china.
Finally Sunday rolled around. I was ready to sleep in, but of course we had other plans…snowshoeing at Mt. Baker! Our local mountain has been getting tons of snow, and with the promise of sunshine in the forecast we had to get up there. We loaded up the car and drove through 45 minutes of fog before the blue sky hit. Boy was it a perfect day! Cold and clear and the snow was perfect for snowshoeing! We wandered around Bagley Lakes and had a grand time with my parents. Everything sparkled and was so bright and clean feeling. Exactly what we needed…a break into the wilderness. Matt even got a chance to break in his new bright green snow pants that we picked up at REI!
On the way home we stopped at Nooksack Falls, and then for pizza and beer at the Beer Shrine. Great place. It was my first time there but my parents seem to be making their way there with new work recruits quite often. It lived up to the hype!
Matt and I were headed back to Seattle by 5. Tree on top of the car, and getting sleepy. We stopped at Winco for groceries, which turned into a massive stock-up shopping trip, but got home by 7 and unpacked in the dark.
It was a great weekend! Only a month till Christmas!
Moose & Turtle on Vashon 