A Northwest Thanksgiving

It's such a treat to be back in the Pacific Northwest! After a lovely birthday weekend in Seattle, I made my way to Vancouver for a family Thanksgiving.

Morning sunlight inside Seattle's King Street train station.

My sister and brother-in-law hosted my parents and I for the big meal on Thursday. They did an awesome job decorating the table and putting together a scrumptious feast! We all shared cooking duties (I contributed a pear-almond tart), but sis and bro-in-law made an absolutely beautiful and delicious turkey that tied everything together.

Nice work, you two!

It was a relaxing day filled with lots of food, football on TV, walks with their dog, Elsa, card games and board games, and a movie. Definitely a Thanksgiving for the Tyler family record books!

Elsa :)

On Friday, my parents and I drove to Walla Walla to spend a few days with my grandmother and catch up with some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. It had been well over a year since I'd spent some quality time in Eastern Washington with them, and I had a great time making the rounds to see some of my favorite people and visit some of my favorite places in town.

Catching up with my cousins!

My favorite little café in town is called the Colville Street Patisserie. They have the most amazing hot chocolate I've ever had in the USA (the best I've had in Europe was in Lyon), as well as delicious pastries, cakes, and gelato. It's so yummy, we went there twice!

We also took a walk around Pioneer Park, and went to visit one of my cousins at his tasting room, Something Big Cellars. He makes wine with the grapes from his parents' local vineyard and sells both his own label's wine and his parents' Morrison Lane wines. He let me do a tasting of wines both in the bottle and still aging in the barrel, and I bought a couple of bottles to enjoy with Christmas dinner. He is such a talented vintner!

The bandstand at Pioneer Park

Walla Walla is a lovely small Washington city. It's grown and changed significantly since I was a kid, but it's kept its charm and homey feeling. I'm very glad we were able to make the trip!