(A) Happy Anniversary

December 1 was our 45th wedding anniversary so we celebrated by spending the week end at a lovely resort on the Washington coast - Ocean Crest in Moclips. We stay in the area often, but in the motor home at Pacific Beach State Park which is the property just south of Ocean Crest. This resort has been in the same family since the fifties, and they have continued to expand and improve.

We had a room with a glorious view of the ocean, an excellent restaurant on the premises as well as an indoor pool/spa/sauna/exercise room. We spent many hours sitting beside a small fireplace and watching the surf. Saturday morning we were showered with about 1 1/2 inches of snow, which by afternoon had turned to rain.

Colleen sent us off with a basket of goodies along with some good beverages so we were able to stay in and enjoy the view. Last night we had an excellent dinner in the resort's dining room and enjoyed a bottle of wine that Keith and Janet had purchased for us while they were on a cruise last summer. All in all it was a most memorable time. We had text messaged greetings from Craig and when we got home today there were star gazer lillies from Brian and Sheila and the boys. We love our family!

Now Colleen is threatening Christmas decorations so I think that will be the project for the week. I usually start slowly with nutcrackers, a wreath, the German pyramid and smoker, and the nativity. Then when we get a tree I get up the nerve to unpack the rest of the boxes. But this year is easy because we are going to leave to go south on 12/27 so Colleen will be left with the task of putting everything away.

I was a guest of Elisabeth's to attend a reception and private showing for the quilts of Gee's Bend that are now on display at the Tacoma Art Museum. I don't believe one has to be a quilter to appreciate the originality, the creativity and the sheer tenacity that shows through in these works of art. I quite enjoyed all of it.

You might recall that Brian and Sheila and the boys moved from Mt. Home, Idaho to Virginia this past summer, which was quite a leap for the boys coming from a pretty small rural community. Nolan had been wrestling while at Mt. Home, and now as a freshman in a large high school in Virginia, he has made the varsity wrestling team. Go Nolan!!

Ciao