Poulsbo visit by pictures

Scott and I in downtown Poulsbo

Scott and I visited my family and friends in Poulsbo over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. I took advantage of the three-day weekend and added a couple vacation days to make almost a week off work.

There's nothing like living several thousand miles from home to make you realize what you took for granted before moving away. I spent my trip squeezing people, places and activities into every minute before heading back to the airport. Here are a few things I enjoyed:

My mom making one of my favorite dinners - steak fajitas!

Visiting with my mom. We spent some nice time together; ate good food; went on a mother-daughter date to Red Robins and ate a whole mud pie slice; worked on some projects; relaxed; talked about good books, family news, family history, life, etc...

My mom's well-loved piano bench.

Playing my mom's piano. There's been many hours spent on this piano bench, fiddling around with my favorite songs and trying to learn new pieces. Someday I hope to have my own piano - (and your keyboard doesn't count, Scott!)

Meghan and I on the waterfront.

Lunch with my best friend Meghan - the best grilled cheese on sour dough ever! She took me for a drive in her new car (it was a little hard parting ways with the old Ford she had all through high school and college). We did dumb little things like rock out to Madonna's Immaculate collection in the car wash (side note: we were the ONLY people getting our car washed on a rainy day. Yeah, the guy looked at us like we were idiots. But hey, some traditions just shouldn't be messed with). Then we went to the waterfront and had hot chocolate and coffee at the Poulsbohemian cafe. Oh, if only we'd had more time together! There is still so much we need to catch up on. Until the next visit....

Wallpaper in Grandma Cleaver's house - I've always loved this room (even if it is the bathroom)

Visit my Grandma Cleaver. I had several nice visits with my Grandma Cleaver, who has been dealing with brain cancer. It was nice to spend time with her. We talked about family stories, her health, stamp collecting, quilting, family news, etc... Visiting her home is one of the things I miss most. I've always spent a lot of time there and feel like it is a second home.

Me, Megan, Brad, Dad after dinner.

Dinner and Game Night with one of my favorite families - the Browns! They supported my gas fund for years with babysitting. There girls are growing up so fast now that I'm gone. The oldest is actually dating my little brother, which I still think is crazy.

Sunny day - view of the Olympics from living room.

The sun peaked for two clear days! But that was after four cloudy ones. I prayed really hard for at least one nice day, so I could see the Olympic Mountains. I like to think the clouds passed by just for me.

Crazy friends and kids (L to R) - Ashlynne, Michelle, Liz, Sara

Lunch with old friends - I spent an afternoon with old friends and some of their cute kids. I hosted my first low country boil. It actually tasted good and we had a nice time catching up.

A clock I love in my grandparent's home

Dinner with Grandpa and Grandma Wright - The night before I left, I had dinner with my mom's parents. My grandma wright has alzheimers, so it is always hard to see her. Yet I love to squeeze in as much time as I can, since the illness will only get worse. And I just love to visit with my grandpa Wright. He always makes me smile and feel so loved. There home is also another second home.

Scott snowmobiling with Mt. Baker in the background.

And while I was doing all of that, my dad, husband and brother were off doing the above.

Ryan after crashing and breaking his nose snowmobiling.

Until this happened - poor Ryan! One nicely broken nose on a beatiful day of snowmobiling (and it was all caught on video tape!)

The End.