Champions!

By now most of you know that we are a soccer family. Tom coached youth soccer for ten years, while our son Jake played on the team he coached. Jill played about five years, and now helps coach Isaac's team. Both Jill and Jake played as adults.  Now we watch our grand kids playing. We are also supporters of our Major League Soccer team, the Seattle Sounders. Tom and I are season ticket holders and almost never miss a match. 

The MLS soccer season begins the second week of March, and ends in October, when the playoffs begin. This year's season was looking dismal for the Sounders in early August, and then several changes turned the team around. They made it to the playoffs and then three rounds of elimination, and on Dec. 10th, the Sounders played Toronto for the MLS Cup. They won! The Sounders are the 2016 MLS Champions!

Today we all got to celebrate that championship with a victory parade from the center of down town to the Seattle Center. We arrived at the light rail station early so we could get parking. 

Yes, Jill and Irene played hooky. 

We gathered at Westlake Center along with throngs of supporters, waiting for the team to arrive. 

Jill was geared up!

 We caught a glimpse of the mayor talking to one of the team owners. 

 The team arrived and loaded onto trolleys. 

 We took photos of them and they took photos of us, and selfies, of course. 

 Coach Schmetzer and team caption Ozzie Alonso hoisted the MLS Cup.  

 And then we marched and sang and chanted as the Emerald City Supporters - that's us- lead the parade, and the team trolleys followed us through the cheering fans. 

 There I am, with Tom and Irene, waving my flag along the mile plus route. Photo by Jill.

 We approached Seattle Center

 and gathered on the lawn to await the ceremonies. 

I don't know how many people were there, but I know we were surrounded by masses in every direction.

It was a great lot of fun and a wonderful way to end a long and tumultuous season. 

Let the Celebrating Begin!

Today we were guests at Becky's Brunch. It is the official kick off of the holiday season celebration. 

These are retired teachers connected to Des Moines Elementary School that Tom worked with. They adopted me.  Our host Becky is the lovely lady glittering in the bottom right of the photo. 

We enjoyed good food and lively conversation with topics ranging from driving in ice and snow to former students to health concerns to travel.

Ice and snow were on our minds because of our current weather. Officially you could say it is slushing - light rain interspersed with big wet flakes falling on the remnants of last night's light snowfall. 

 It's cold and nasty and a good day for celebrating warm friendships and a cozy evening at home. 

This was my baking week. In four days, with Tom's help, I made six kinds of cookies, which are now all tucked away in the freezer, awaiting the filling of cookie tins to give as gifts and for our own family enjoyment when the big day arrives. 

This was a photo from last year, but I made the same kinds again this year. They are traditional and each one is someone's favorite. 

The decorating is done, the baking is done, except for the cookie cutter cookies we'll make with the grand kids, and most of the shopping is done. We have no plans for the weekend, other than watching the Sounders play in Toronto for the MLS Cup on Saturday and the Seahawks play in Green Bay on Sunday. I have no desire to be in either of those places in person during the weather they are experiencing. 

I'll work on our Christmas letter and get photo cards ordered. Next week we have a Christmas shops field trip on Tuesday, and weather permitting, a Christmas lunch here at our house on Thursday. The weather man is warning of more snow by mid-week, so we'll have to wait and see what happens. 

At any rate, I have declared that the holiday season has now officially begun. I will find a way to make each day a gift. Today was a good start. 

Beginnings and Endings

I last posted on Friday. That evening we kicked off the Christmas activities by joining Jill and the kids at Clam Lights.

This is Seattle and we have water here, the salt waters from the vast inland sea we call Puget Sound. Naturally we have lighted boat parades. 

 I know these are blurry but it is the best my little Canon could do in low light. We were bundled up and hoping the rain would not return while we were out on the dock watching the boats. 

 Then we walked back into the park to enjoy the Clan Lights close up.

 Yep, those are the clams, because this light show is sponsored by Ivar's Acres of Clams Restaurants.

 These are not clams. Kinda' cool how the camera blurred the people not in our group, although Isaac is a bit ghost like.  

Saturday we attended an arts and crafts show called Tide Fest in Gig Harbor, where conveniently, Irene and Isaac were playing their last soccer matches of the season. We shopped, then went to two soccer games, then finished our shopping. 

Fortunately we stayed dry for most of both matches and were well bundled up against the cold. The Mud Dogs ended in a 4-4 tie. 

 We finished up Irene's game and then took her with us to Isaac's game, where it was the second half and Isaac was playing keeper. 

 Jill was on the sideline as an assistant coach. 

The Rockets won 6-4, a great finish for a team that was thrown together several months ago and lost badly at first. They really improved!

Tom and I went back to Tide Fest to make some gift purchases, and then we set off through heavy traffic and gathering darkness to our garden club party. We were planning to go home, change and get the food we were planning to take, but it was such slow going that we just went "come as you are", arriving only an hour and a half late. But they fed us and we had a good time. 

Sunday we got in a walk and then got busy putting up the tree and decorating it. We joked about having 40,000 ornaments, but I can't even guess at the real number. We have stuff on there from when the kids were babies, over 40 years of accumulation. 

Many of you have seen photos of this tree before. Each year we add a few from our travels, but I think we must stop even doing that now.  Or else get another tree. 

 Anybody else have bacon hanging near Krampus? 

 Or a roadrunner and an avocado near a Santa? 

 How about Mozart from Salzburg or a royal crown from Stockholm or an elf from the Black Forest or a Norwegian flag from Oslo or an Alaskan cruise ship or a skyline of Philadelphia? And so much more. 

 Sunday evening we hosted Irene while Jill and Isaac attended the NFL game at the stadium. The Seahawks overwhelmed the Panthers 40-7. We watched at home. 

This morning we cleaned house while it snowed outside. 

It wasn't cold enough to stick around, but now the temperature is dropping again and the forecast is for our first freezing temps tonight, with ice and possibly more snow by morning.

I went through my cookie recipes, wrote my shopping list and went to the store this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll be ready to stay inside and start baking. 

'Tis the busy season. 

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I'm pretty sure I can't account for all of my time since my last post, but I know I've been busy.

There were walks every day, and some work in the yard when weather permitted. We made another wreath, for Jill this time.  I got a good start on my Christmas shopping, much of it on line, and some in actual stores!

Tom put out more lights in the front yard. Since we live back off the street, we decorate for our own view out of the family room window. 

And we did some more decorating inside.
Yesterday I did the dining room. 

We both have a lot of Scandinavian ancestry, so that is my theme in this room, with hearts and straw ornaments.

 The Dala horses are from our travels in Sweden and the wooden shoes are from Amsterdam. The compote belonged to Tom's grandmother. 

 The buffet and the wooden mirror frame are also from Tom's grandparents. 

 The sheaf of wheat and the straw pig and goat are Scandinavian traditions. Tom's mother made the fabric trees a long time ago. The old pressed glass pieces are things we collected over the years. 

 Tom helped me get the garland up on the beam in the dining room. It is decorated with hearts and vintage ornaments we got from our former neighbor. We found them when we were helping to clean out her home when she moved into assisted living. Connie, of Far Side of Fifty, you'll be interested to know that many of them are Shiny Brites, and I even have a Shiny Brite box that some of them originally came in. It is marked 99 cents. 

These three Santas stand on the table separating the dining room from the living room. 

Today, after breakfast with friends and shopping at IKEA, we got the kitchen decorated. Tom is much better on the step stool than I am, so I pretty much just direct and hand him things for the garlands. 

Getting started.

 Done. 

 The details.  I made the felt gingerbread boys and the calico ornaments shortly after we moved into this house, 38 years ago. We have used them this way ever since. Only the garlands have been refreshed. I guess you could say we are "traditional" around here. 

There are other decorations scattered here and there around the house, like this cone wreath that Tom made.

 Little elves abound.  (Don't tell anyone but that is a fake poinsettia. Real ones die here)

And Sunday we will tackle the Christmas tree. It is an all day project.