The End of a Remarkable Week

Even though we decided to go somewhere together instead of buying gifts, we still did stockings on Christmas Eve. We all bought one or two items for each stocking so that it wasn't left up to one person to do it all.

 

 

Plus Allie got her Christmas Eve pajamas and stuffed animal. It's a tradition Chuck's mom started with our girls when they were little. When Sharaya had Allie she asked if I could carry on this tradition and I was more than happy to!

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2018 

Allie opened a few more gifts on Christmas morning and Sharaya and Diana fixed dinner for everyone. It was so nice to not have to cook or really have any responsibilities that whole week!

Reading Luke 2, about the birth of Jesus 

 

We watched home movies... oh my gosh we laughed so hard over those! This one was Christmas morning of 1997 I think. 

 

Then Sharaya and Diana took a walk down by the lake while Chuck, Beth, Allie and I scrambled to take down all the Christmas stuff and put up birthday decorations! We were trying to make it a surprise but I think Diana probably knew what we were doing. 😁

Her birthday is on December 27 and since we were leaving on the 26th to come back to Seattle and she was flying home, we celebrated her the night before we left. 

Happy Birthday Diana!

 

 

  
I keep thinking about everything we did and how much we laughed... do you do that too? Go over everything again and again, reliving it because it was just so amazing?!

A Christmas Like No Other

Earlier this year Sharaya and Diana suggested we go somewhere for Christmas and create memories, rather than just buying each other gifts we really didn't need. So Chuck got on-line and reserved our timeshare in Chelan, WA. 

For months we've been planning, trying to figure out what we wanted to do and what kinds of places there were in Chelan. When they announced Mary Poppins Returns was coming out we were so excited that we'd be able to see it while we were there, but looking on-line, Chelan didn't have a theater. 

We saw there was a small ski resort about 10 miles from where we'd be staying so we planned to go skiing! For the first time ever! It was supposed to snow while while we were there so we'd make snowmen and have snowball fights... we were all ready for some time away to just have fun!

Diana flew in from Pennsylvania on Thursday. Chuck picked her up from the airport and we all met for lunch.

Then Friday morning we loaded up our cars and headed up to the mountains. Chelan's about 3-4 hours from our house but they said it might snow going over the pass so we weren't sure what to expect. Thankfully the roads were bare and dry and we made good time. 

   

We were SO excited to be at the condo! No responsibilities, no deadlines, just fun and relaxation!

We had a gorgeous view from our room and were on the first floor so we had direct access to the lake and any snow that might fall! We got in right at dusk so decided to go get some dinner.

The weekend was filled with shopping and playing games and laughing...

When we went out for dinner the first night, we found a movie theater! It was over 100 years old and one of the employees came to the front before the movie started and talked to us about the theater's history and gave us some trivia about Mary Poppins Returns. Did you know they asked Julie Andrews to appear in a cameo but she turned it down because she wanted Emily Blunt to get the acclaim for this one. I wish she had done it! Oh well, it's still a great movie! And so much fun seeing it in this old theater.

 

We got to the condo on Friday night and on Saturday night it snowed! Diana and I woke up early and went for a walk. It was so cold!

Our condo is in the center, under the one with all the lights on.

Then later I walked down to the lake. I wasn't sure how far away it was but found out it was just two blocks from our back door! And it was gorgeous!

Even with this snowfall there wasn't enough for the small resort near us to open, so we decided to take the entire day on Monday and drive to Leavenworth to go skiing there. It was about an hour away but we knew they had snow because we had friends who had been skiing there for weeks. 

Since none of us had been on skis before, we decided cross-country skiing would be a good place to start. People had been telling us that cross-country skiing is a lot like walking. But they forgot to mention one small detail...

(To be continued...)