Gowey Christmas

Jolly Time!

Wouldn't be the holidays without a rowdy night at the Jolly Roger taproom, drinking the Jolly.
Cheers!

When Eric comes into town, that's where we head.
It was great to have some time with him!

Yummy fries & lil' jollies.

And lots of silly photos.

And then Levi got a little excited & knocked over a glass of beer into my lap!

Great to celebrate with all, but we're going to miss Ryan, Kyra & Eric as they head back to Alaska & D.C.

Christmas in Photos...

...a lot of photos.
The Christmas celebrations began on Saturday in Shelton with the Hearn family.
My niece Tillie's second Christmas!

Tillie & her Mama.

Tillie & Levi.

Tillie & Great Poppa Don.

Look! I took a photo without Tillie in it! :)
Carolyn & Dad after he gave her a cross necklace.

And back to Tillie, this time with cousin Seth.

Meredith with Grandma & Poppa.

Skip to Sunday's celebration with the Winstons. The first Christmas without G-paw. My cousins came into town & we toasted to G-paw with his favorite scotch. It's so great to have the four of us together.
Me trying out the little girl's traditional Swedish cap.

I love this photo of my Uncle Steve. :)

G-maw decorating Levi with the package trimmings.

We decided it looked even better on her.

Christmas morning!
Both my family & Levi's family gathered together this year for a joint celebration at my sister's house.
Here's Momma getting breakfast ready.

The menfolk with the ties from their stockings.

Boo & I being silly in the falling snow.

JP & Elyse entertaining each other while waiting to open presents.

My new Nau jacket!
A present I was very excited about.

It was magical to have snowflakes falling on Christmas Day!

The wood truck I rescued from the flooded farm in Chehalis & fixed up for my Mom.

The bike Levi refinished for his sister.
Hopefully he'll post more about it soon.

And my new bike!! I know, I know--didn't I get a new mountain bike earlier this year? Yes, but this is the bike that spoiled me for all other bikes! It's my friend Joy's Trek & for months now we've thrown around the idea that we would buy it from her once she got her new Julian. Levi picked it up from her a couple days ago & completely surprised me with it on Christmas morning! While it's older, an '01, it has a great set-up & amazing wheels. Let's hope the trails have a little chance to dry out & I can get out on it!

Snow! (hopefully more tomorrow!)

A Merry Christmas to all & to all a good night.

Merry Christmas!!

We wish everyone a blessed & peaceful Christmas!

Heifer Records

It's been an interesting & tough morning. An aspect of my job I had not anticipated was the responsibility of changing the records for my grandparents who have passed away. Heifer has a huge database that keeps track of records for all donors. My aunt pointed out to me that G-maw & G-paw have been receiving duplicate Heifer mailings. So, I combined the duplicate records & as we just made G-maw new return address labels with only her name, I also changed the Heifer mailing title to simply, "Mrs. Mary Winston." No more Bruce Winston. This caused me to look up the record for Mr. & Mrs. Edward A. Gowey--technically a record I should delete from the database, but I can't yet. It's touching to look back & see that their last gift was to support my Heifer bike ride to Portland, the summer before Grandma died.
Who knew the Heifer donor database would make me cry?

Christmas Traditions

I love this time of year, the joy & anticipation of greeting Christmas. It's sad that the holidays are a stressful, hectic time for so many people--let's find the peace!
A few holiday traditions...
Holiday Brunch with my girlfriends Jen & Kelly & their families.
We've celebrated together three or four years running now.
Here's Levi with Eden.

And me with Payton.

And all the girls!

Celebrating Christmas at the Gowey house in Lake Forest Park is a long-standing tradition. My grandparents moved into the house when my mother was four years old, so the traditions span decades & generations. This year will be very different, as both my grandparents are gone, but we're celebrating the traditions that center around their house, as this may be the last Christmas we spend in it. Sunday evening a number of us gathered to put up & decorate the tree (cut from the property, as tradition), line the santas on the mantle, & set up the creche with the lit star. We drank cocoa & sat by the fire & looked forward to the day that all 40 something Goweys will gather together to celebrate Christmas. I look forward to the day & hurt at the same time, because of the absence of Grandma Donnie & Grandpa Ed.

And last night my friend Liz & I met at Swanson's for our annual Christmas outing. I believe we started this tradition the year that Liz's father passed away, 1999, & have gone almost every year since. It's amazing how much the nursery has changed & we've enjoyed the addition of the Christmas reindeer.

Goofing around with hats at the gift shop. This photo is for all you owl lovers out there. It's a children's hat, but I also thought it would make a spiffy tea cozy.

My 'Lizabeth & me.

Cross Country Skiing

Fun day...tired.
My friend Joy & I went cross country skiing today up at Snoqualmie's Cabin Creek. I've never really been any kind of skiing before & Joy was a great teacher.
Here she is, showing me how it's done.

So pretty.

I tried out some "butt skiing" on a couple hills. I had quite a few hilarious falls, but I can honestly say that I spent more time skiing on the snow than in it.

Yeah, I got up!! The hardest thing about falling is getting back up again. Joy said I was a quick learner. :)