Miss Macchiato

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Two months late. My only excuse is that I haven’t downloaded photos from our digital camera since September! I know that isn’t a very good excuse and I am endeavoring to use the camera more this year.

So for Thanksgiving (way back in November), I went home to see my family. Before I moved to upstate New York, I lived in north Seattle, but originally I am from Tacoma (specifically a suburb called University Place). It’s about 45 – 60 minutes south of Seattle. My parents bought the house when I was 1 year old and they’ve been living in that house ever since.

This was the first family gathering since Tom and I were married five years ago, so we were all really excited to see each other. I think Team Williams had the most fun we’ve ever had together, so maybe the old adage is true: Distance makes the heart grow fonder. Hopefully we won’t wait another five years to test that out.

Tom and I arrived at the airport the night before Thanksgiving. Neall had already arrived a couple of hours prior and was hanging out at the airport until we got there, just so our parents wouldn’t have to make two separate trips. He’s very thoughtful.

I’m happy to say that I got to make the majority of the Thanksgiving dinner this year. Mom and I had such a great time, and everything was did was really low key, so we could enjoy the day without rushing around. We made Alton Brown’s brined turkey, garlic smashed potatoes, a delicious baked stuffing from Cook’s Illustrated that involves sausage and golden raisins, and a sweet & tart cranberry dressing from Bon Appetit. Just about everything on the menu was new — I was going for the non-traditional Williams dinner this year, just to break everyone out of their food comfort zone.

Of course, Dad requires his creamed peas and pearl onions, but I wasn’t going anywhere near that. I let Mom handle it.

We had a lot of fun, dinner was a huge success, and I think that’s the longest we’ve all ever sat around the dinner table just talking and enjoying each other’s company. And that’s weird. Usually we can’t wait to run away and do our own thing. This year it was different. This year, we were a real family. I had a great time.

Mom gave the wishbone to Neall and me, but it hadn’t had a chance to fully dry and it slipped out of my fingers. I guess that means Neall wins by default. Ha!

Zoolights is a big local tradition. Every winter, the zoo is fully decorated from top to bottom with colored holiday lights. I mean to tell you, this place is a total spectacle.

Photos don’t do it justice. It’s totally dark out (and a little wet and rainy!) and the whole place is lit by millions and millions of holiday lights. You just walk along the paths and enjoy.

Tom took a shot of Mom, Neall and me before we set off on our trip. I wish some of the photos had come out better, but that would have required use of the flash and that cancels out the magnificence of the light display.

Click for bigger versions if you want to see the family shots. I kept them small because if you aren’t in my family, these just aren’t as big of a deal. Feel free to skip right through them.

You also need a big cup of hot chocolate for the walk. It’s a must. Concession stand hot chocolate courtesy of my brother. He’s awesome.

Dad was pretty tired and wasn’t able to come along with us, but the rest of us had a ball.

Here’s one of the four of us – I’m never too shy to ask a total stranger to take a picture for me!

Due to the flash used in this photo, I look like I’m possessed.

Of course, there’s always a kid-friendly component to Zoolights. The kid’s area is always left open and, at that time of night, the Meerkats were out and having a grand time.

I had a hard time pulling Tom away from the Meerkats. In fact, I consider myself lucky that I didn’t find a couple in our suitcases when we got home!

Here’s a couple more random shots of the zoo…

All in all, we had a fantastic time, and I’m really hoping we can make it out for another holiday next year… Tom, wink wink, nudge nudge…

Har.