Leila, Tessa, Sam, Tionna, Nancy, Denny, David and Cindy

Here we are on New Year’s Day at David’s house.  It was probably the only time in the 2 weeks we were there that all of us were together but we had lots of fun with all .  We arrived very late on Dec. 23rd in Seattle and met David at a motel nearby.  Leila and Tessa were asleep.  Leila wasn’t feeling great as she had her tonsils out 2 days before but we were glad that she could make it for the long ride from Olympia.  The next morning after a nice breakfast we dropped Tessa off in Bellingham at the band bus that was taking her to Spokane to get a flight to San Antonio.  She is a freshman at WSU and a member of the marching band and they were going to the Alamo Bowl.  It was a great experience for her but for some reason the school thought it a good idea to be there over Christmas even though they didn’t play until the 28th.  They did win which was exciting for them and Tessa got to see some new places such as Riverwalk and the Alamo.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch we had a lovely Christmas eve dinner at David’s with the rest of us.

 

Being in Washington in the winter means you see a lot of rain but there were days when it was only cloudy so we could do some things outdoors.  We went one day to Maclane Creek which is a great example of Pacific rainforest  with lots of mossy trees and water with lots of ducks.

As we approached it there were some tall trees along the creek with 28 Bald Eagles in them!  We found out on our walk why they were there–the salmon had spawned and the shores were filled with dead salmon.

We also had a nice walk around Capital lake with lots more ducks.  Around here we may see a Bufflehead or a pair but out there we saw at least 50 on the lake.

On New Year’s day we went with David and Cindy to Nisqually NWR.  It was a nice day by Washington standards and was quite busy with people even though the visitor’s center was closed because of the shut down.  Lots of birds including Bushtits, Golden-crowned Kinglets, Golden-crowned Sparrow, some shore birds, lots of eagles, a Kestrel and even a Snipe.  We also saw a few deer.

On our 54th Anniversary Leila, David and Cindy took us out to a fabulous dinner at Anthony’s.  They are famous for their seafood and quite deservedly so.  They also gave us a box of amazing chocolates:

We had lunch one day with Oscar and Barbara Soule who are long time friends.  Oscar went to high school with Denny and taught for years at Evergreen College.  In fact David had him as a teacher when he went there.  His father was my father’s partner and he delivered me and David.  Barbara was a year ahead of me, in my brother’s class in high school so you can see we’ve known each other for quite a while.  It was nice to see them.

My friend Beth Watrous has a daughter who lives near there and she was able to join Denny and me for lunch one day.  It was really fun to see her and catch up with what she is doing out there.

Once Tessa was back, while the male half of the family was watching the football games I went with the girls to the Puget Sound Estuarium.  It was a small museum but apparently has a lot of programs outside and does a lot of education.

Tessa, Leila, Tionna (Sam’s girlfriend)

We are back home until Feb. 1st when we leave for warmer climes in Arizona.  We will be there until March 20th and I’m sure we’ll send more from there.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy new year.

Peace,

Nancy & Denny