Holiday Travel - Seattle

We know, we know - it's the beginning of February and we haven't posted any fun stuff from Christmas.

We started our holiday travel in Seattle. I (Sarah) wish I could deny it, but we were totally nerdy and had a schedule...in excel. But come on?! You guys love it! It gave us the chance to see so many people. So here's our recap:

Sydney is such a cutie! You can tell how everyone looks at this precious little thing...It was great to see Kori and Colby (mom and dad). They have been our friends for years, and I'm sure we're just getting started.
Brian and I got to meet Catherine (Mike & Angela's new baby). It was great to catch up with them - Angela was glowing with happiness and Mike and Brian could have kept talking and talking and talking...the way best friends can.We had another baby to meet, Benton, but this time we met up and the Seattle Aquarium. I think that we might have had more fun than Benton did.

Brian had lunch with his old co-workers from ArenaNet and I hung out with Beth. It was fun to eat at Chanantese (one of my favorite Thai places).

The Civitts clan was a sight for sore eyes! Linda and Tony (Jen's parents) were in town from NYC to see the new baby. James was born in December and you can tell he's already lucky with an older brother like Jack around. The Civitts hosted a fabulous dinner - chicken parm. YUM!AND we got to meet Riain (pronounced Ryan). I loved holding her. She was 2 months old and had plenty of baby fat to make her cuddly. Erin (her Mom) was all smiles, as usual. Erin & Mike were there, too - representing the "yes, we're married, no kids yet" group like us. What's crazy, is that a year and a half ago these ladies and I were meeting for "Wedding Wednesday." Erin, Erin and I were all engaged, so we would get together and chat (Jen was there for support). Nothing productive - all fun. But I'd bet it kept the stress of the whole wedding thing down. What a great group!

The Harris house was hopping with kids and a great gift exchange while we were in town. A gift exchange is always fun, but going over to the Harris's is always a treat because of the great company, wonderful new wines we are exposed to, and Sara makes some of the best appetizers!

Brian and I like Williamsburg, we really do. But eating out is a challenge, unless you're willing to eat at a chain restaurant. So while in Seattle we made sure we visited a few of our favorites... we did Thai Tom in the U District for lunch...

Redhook Brewery with Cory and Shelby. They got a chance to come and visit us near the end of 2007, but we always have a good time with them. Even if we are searching for Cory's chicks!
Northlake Pizza Tavern with Mikelle and Jon. They were married last fall and they're such a great couple!JaK's (a local steakhouse) with Ki, Seon and Fred. They're our scuba diving friends (some of them) and it was a lot of fun to see them.Cactus (fun Mexican) with Brian's family. Conversation was entertaining, as always!

Breakfast/brunch with David and Paul at the Barking Frog! We spent the morning of our wedding day at their house

And we were spoiled again with dinner at the Suarez's, home of Kaptain Kenmore. Little Eliana is such a sweetheart. And once again, Erin and Mike were there. We all had such a good time, we finally had to call it quits at midnight. Brian and I were on vacation, but the rest of the kids had to get up for work.Christmas itself was fabulous. The Porters have some great family traditions - dinner on Christmas Eve, cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning. (By now you all understand why the eating right/exercising New Year's resolution is a must this year!) We were all blessed with time spent together and such fun gifts!

Overall, Seattle was all smiles, lots of love and counting our blessings, which are so many, I think it graduates to a miracle. Brian and I truly feel blessed with the wonderful family and friends that make Seattle still feel like home.