A couple more Christmas photos.

This is Angela and Martha and Eric. Eric graduated from high school with Martha. Angela, Eric's wife is Jolene's cousin. It's a small world.

David, Martha, and Eric's little girl, Claire. Lots of curls!

Martha and Zach.....

came to Seattle for Christmas. We all went to Mulkilteo for Christmas festivities. Jacquie and Paul created an incredible Italian dinner. There were about 16 of us and we had a wonderful time. Thanks J and P!

Does this mean you're winning?

Martha and Zach playing a game. Lots of other folks were there, playing as well, but I don't seem to have them in the picture.

Yum!

Paul and Zach preparing to dig in to the Antipasto platter.

Snow, lot's of it, in Providence Point

It's been snowing up here since about 5:30am and still going strong. This is 3 different views from our home, what you can't really see, is how hard it is actually snowing. It's pretty but treacherous, as the temperature is 28 degrees and everything that is coming down is freezing.

The tree is up! Hooray!

The Saturday morning guys at Pike Place

Every Saturday morning for a very long time, Dave has met with a group of men, who met each other at a health club they all belonged to. The club finally folded, but the men still meet for coffee at Pike Place every Saturday morning. Many of them have lived in Seattle all of their lives and have many stories to tell. Sitting and listening to them is a history lesson in itself. I've gone with Dave only twice, but both times were a lot of fun. Hopefully, they will be meeting for many more years to come. They are, from left to right, Louie, Tony, Dave, Bill and Ike. Great people!

Surprise!

We celebrated our 45th wedding anniversary on the 23rd of Nov. Our kids decided to surprise us with a dinner for us and many of our friends at a local restaurant. To say it was a surprise is an understatement. We had NO idea. It was truly a complete and total surprise! We are truly grateful for our 45 years, our children and our friends. Thanks to all.

Reading Ed's letter.

One of the people who could not get to our party was Dave's best man of 45 years ago. He wrote a very nice and amusing letter which Martha read to the group. It was truly a wonderful evening.

Pioneer Square Hotel

We spent Friday night at the Pioneer Square Hotel. We always wanted to do this. It is a hotel that was built in 1912 and had been totally renovated. It is on the National Record of Historic Places. Anyway, it was fun and this is us in front of the Christmas tree.

Gingerbread Houses

Every year the Sheraton Hotel in Seattle has a display of Gingerbread houses. Various companies and chefs get together and create these fun houses. It always has a theme and this year it was Superheros. One is better than the next and always fun to see. You give a donation and the proceeds go the Juvenile Diabetes research.

Martha and Zach

They came to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. It was nice to have all the kids here.

Thanksgiving call

This is Jolene's mom, Jacquie, making a happy Thanksgiving day call.

Thanksgiving Day

There were eleven of us for dinner. We had a great time and lots of food. Here are a few of the folks who where with us.

How bout' this one!

Esmee's Auntie M

Sorry Muf, no ruffles. You made a cute mouse, however. Wonder what ever happened to your pink ears.

Outdoor Decor

I've run out of Colorado photos, so I'm goin' with fall around Providence Point. This is some of the stuff we have outside the house and the photo below is what we can see from our bedroom. We have had a spectacular fall this year.

View from our bedroom window

Four Corners National Monument

Well, these are the last of the Colorado pictures. This is me standing on the 4 corners monument. Four states come together at this point. Very windy spot. Below is the Black Canyon Nat'l Park. Not too many people visit this place, it's off the beaten path, but quite lovely.

Black Canyon National Park

Mesa Verde National Park

Couple pictures of the pueblo ruins in the park. These people came, built dwellings and lived for several years and then just vanished. No one seems to know what happened to them.

Durango to Silverton Steam Train

We took this train, pulled by a steam engine for a 3 hour trip to Silverton. Quite an experience, as at this point in the trip you are looking awfully far down. It is a truly beautiful sight, supposedly the most beautiful railroad view in the US. The fall colors were really something to behold. This train has quite a history with Hollywood as they use it frequently. Lots of John Wayne movies and others that I don't recall at this point.

Downtown Silverton

Downtown Silverton

Beautiful Colorado

These are two of the beautiful views we got on the way from Ft. Collins to Durango. This is South Western Colorado, a part of the state we had not seen before. Incredibly beautiful.

Dad at Colorado State University

After two days in Denver, we drove up to Ft. Collins, where Dave graduated from CSU 50 years ago. We went to his reunion dinner and the football game. (They lost) We have a very nice time, walking around and reminiscing. This building is where he spent a lot of his time, as he was in ROTC. The Oval below is a large grassy area with lots of elm trees, and below that is the new library with the Cam the Ram statue in front. Cam is the CSU mascot. The old library was pretty much destroyed and few years back as a result of a flood. This one is incredible. The students are fortunate.

Mom on the Oval

Dad and Cam the Ram

Big Blue Bear

This guy was pretty cute. He has his nose up against the window of the Denver Convention Center. Just wantin' ta know what goin' on inside. This evening it was a beer festival that was sold out. Funny, huh?

Unsinkable.......

Well, I got the last copy all messed up. The bottom photo is me and the one above is Dave. But then you know that! We took a tour of the Molly Brown house. She survived the Titanic, for those who might not know. Anyway, she was very interesting and wealthy and had a very lovely home.

OK, so we've been out of town for awhile......

We went to Colorado for a week. The reason was Dave's 50th college reunion at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins. Before heading to Ft. Collins we spent two days poking around downtown Denver. This is me in front of the State Capital buildidng. I love state capitals for some reason. Below is a photo of Dave on a saddle in the Colorado State History museum. Nice place. Small, so easy to get around and see most of it in a short period of time and then you also have a tendency to remember much of what you saw.

Issaquah "Salmon Days"

We spent most of Saturday, taking part in the Salmon Days festival. We started with the parade, which was quite good and took over a hour. Lot's of bands, floats, etc. and up to the end of the parade the weather cooperated. Then the sky opened and the wind started. Made for a very damp day. We finally decided to eat inside, as french fries floating around in little paper containers didn't seem like fun. We saw many salmon returning and fighting their way up the fish ladder. An amazing thing. Didn't stay long, as the rain by this time, was falling horizontally. In spite of it all, we had a good time and will probably do it again.

Sammy Salmon a "special" guest!

Young Dave in his new Eddie Bauer jacket which is, indeed, waterproof. He is very pleased.

Me n' Christy

Last Tuesday I went into Bellevue to have my friend and former neighbor cut my hair. We had our photo taken afterward. She just got married. Congratulation, Christy!

After my haircut I went over to Bel Square to poke around. They are replacing the flooring and it's amazing to me how much bigger the square looks.

New look at Bel Sq.

A blast or two from the past!

In 1965 Dave and I took a Air France airline weekend package to Paris. It was called the "Paris a-go-go weekend. " And go-go we did. There weren't too many free moments, day or night. This is a photo of me and my friend Katie in front of our hotel, The Claridge. Very nice place and still there. They were having the coldest winter since WWII and everything was rather gray. In spite of the weather, Paris had a very profound effect on me and is still my favorite city. We took a bus to the city from the airport, we came around a corner and there was the Eiffel Tower. It brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't believe I was really seeing it. Goodness, it looked just like the history books!

This has always been my favorite European site. Even in the cold, wet, and gray of January 1965.

Belated B-day Party for Dave

We had a dinner party last evening to celebrate Dave's birthday. Here he is with his cake and our friend Bonni. Below are another of our friends, Ray and Shirley. Lots of conversation and laughs.

Happy Birthday Dave!

Today is Dave's birthday. This is a photo of him doing one of the things he likes best. Poking around Mt. Rainier in showshoes. Have a great day, Dad!

We had a BBQ last week for our village. It had a western theme. I actually had a nicer hat for Dave to wear, but he insisted on this one. I guess it's an old friend. I thought our tables, etc. looked pretty nice.

Prov. Pt.