Since it took so long for me to get October’s blog off I decided I’d better get started on November early.
November was busy, but not like October. November was all about family with some medical and dental appointments thrown in the first two weeks.
In the middle of the month we brought David’s 98 year old dad down for a visit. He lives with David’s youngest sister and her husband. So the siblings trade off spending days or weeks at a time with him. Because of David’s surgery and recovery, we hadn’t had a chance to host him since Christmas last year. By bringing him down in the middle of the month he was able to celebrate David’s 71st birthday with us. We really don’t pack these visits with a lot of entertainment – just us.
We pretty much took it easy the first week. I did manage to escape for some alone time at The Eugene Holiday Market. The Market should not be missed. I quite often get gifts for out-of town family here. I purchased a wonderful candle from Mad Candle Company that was intended for a gift, but it’s mine now. The young woman who makes and sells these heavenly candles actually delivers within Eugene for free! I was unable to go back before we left for Colorado for Christmas.
The week after David’s birthday was Thanksgiving – it usually is. We were going to the Seattle area to celebrate with my sister-in-law, J, her husband K, our son and daughter-in-law, and our daughter-in-law’s parents.
David volunteered the turkey and dressing. I got busy baking my grandmother’s ginger bread and cream cheese dainties. (I don’t cook, but I will bake.) Since we were traveling with our stuff, my father-in-law’s stuff (including his dog and all that comes with her), David decided to bone the turkey on Tuesday and refrigerate it until we left . Wednesday morning. He made cornbread dressing on Tuesday also. My daughter-in-law’s family is from the south and David was hoping the dressing would be a kind of homage to their roots.
When we drive to Seattle we usually stop for lunch after we cross the Columbia. This trip we left earlier than we usually do so we were hungry before we crossed. Thanks to F&A Vanlife we had a new stop – Jubitz! All the trips we have made across the Columbia since 2011 and until we saw F&A’s vlog we never knew Jubitz was just east of the bridge. We learn a lot when we watch our YouTube couples.
Jubitz is an incredible truck stop. There is a full restaurant, a deli, a laundromat, a movie theater, a chapel, a post office, a hotel, and probably more. There is also a massive parking lot for overnight stays. David, his dad, and I had deli sandwiches that lasted all the way to Snohomish County. Good thing too since our normal 5 hour drive ended up being 8 hours. It was the day before Thanksgiving and I-5 was congested.
Thanksgiving
Busy day. Lot’s of cooking. Lot’s of cooks. While things were cooking David and I took grandson #2 and #4 across the street to ride bikes. When that got boring we taught them how to play Red light Green light. Red light Green light can be very interesting with a five year old and a three year old.
David’s cornbread dressing was a hit with everyone, including our son’s southern in-laws. We also celebrated our son’s father-in-law’s birthday.
Black Friday David and I babysat while our son and daughter-in-law took her parents out for her father’s birthday. When they returned we had dinner and then all piled into the car. We were on our way to Woodland Park’s Zoo Lights.
This is something I always wanted to take our kids to, living in Whatcom County we were about 100 miles too far away. Grandson #4 was our Christmas lights spotter on the route there just to occupy his 4 year old mind. He did a great job. We saw all the lights, had some hot beverages and quickly walked back to the car. None of the adults were prepared for how cold it became.
Saturday we spent the night with David’s sister, brother-in-law, and his dad at his sister’s house.
December 1st we said good bye to. family and Seattle. We would return sometime in January to celebrate Christmas.
Christmas was scheduled for Colorado with the other half of the family.
I hope everyone is having a lovely holiday season.
I’ll be back next year.