Quick Trip to Seattle

Last week, Brandon & I went to Seattle for a quick visit with his family. His grandpa's health is failing, and we wanted to go spend some time with him. We were only able to stay four days, but we're both so glad we went.

Wednesday after work, we dropped the dogs off at Mike & Jeannie's house and headed to Memphis. We spent the night with Vanessa before getting up early Thursday morning and going to the airport. We were fortunate to have an early direct flight and were in Seattle at 11:30 local time. Bruce & Deborah had gotten into town the day before, and so Bruce came with Duane to pick us up at the airport. It was so great to be there again!

That evening, Grandma went with Duane to Braeden's school recital, and we stayed in with Grandpa. He told us about their wedding day. They were married August 25, 1945, in Miami after Grandpa returned from being a POW in WWII. (If you would like to read the story of how he was captured and his time as a POW, check out the book that he & his granddaughter Jaime wrote here.) Anyway, here's a clip of the video I got while he was talking about their wedding day. You'll have to turn your volume up if you want to hear it. I recorded it with my phone so the audio isn't great, but I'm so glad I captured it!



The first thing Grandpa said Thursday when we arrived (after telling Brandon how glad he was that we were there) was, "I would like some oyster stew!" The last few times we have visited, Brandon has treated him to oyster stew. He loves it! So that evening, we went to Fred Meyer and bought the ingredients to make it for lunch the next day. Grandpa was a happy man and declared it "delicious" more than once. :)

Friday was a lazy day. We stayed in most of the day, with the exception of another trip to the grocery store that morning. Brandon made Grandpa his oyster stew for lunch, and then I rode to Costco with Duane to pick up a few things. That evening, Brandon's cousin Jaime came over with her family. We cooked a couple of chicken pot pies from Costco and had a nice big salad. After dinner, we looked at some old slides Duane had found in the basement from Grandpa & Grandma's trip to Finland in the 70's.

Saturday afternoon, we drove to Kirkland and met everyone at TechCity Bowl. After having some snacks in the bar, we went in and got a couple of lanes. I hadn't bowled in years and am terrible at it - I got gutter balls my first two tries - but had a lot of fun. I think everyone did. After bowling, we went to Bridle Trails NY Pizza for dinner and then back to Jaime & Dan's house to play Apples to Apples. It was a fun night!

Sunday, we went over to Corey & Clarissa's house to watch the Seahawk's game. Well, some of us watched the football game...the rest of us stayed upstairs and hung out with the kids. Afterwards, we made a quick stop back at the grandparents' house to check on their thermostat, then we went to Des Moines to see Dennis's new place and eat dinner at Anthony's Home Port, a great seafood place on the water. I had the Chinook Salmon, and Brandon had Dungeness Crab Fettuccine. They were both delicious!

After dinner, we went back to Grandma & Grandpa's house. Jaime and her daughter Bailey came back with us. We sat next to Grandpa at the dining table and played Yahtzee for a while. During our game, Grandpa spoke up and told us how special it was for "an old man to have young people visit him" and told us he hoped we would remember him and come back again in the summer. Then he started singing Billie Holiday's, "I'll be Seeing You" to us. Wow...talk about emotional.

Monday morning it was time to head back to the airport. Grandpa got up a little earlier than normal so he could spend some time with us before we left. He told us he loved us and how glad he was that we came. It was tough saying goodbye. :(

Our flight back to Memphis was a pretty good one. We had free WiFi, so were able to occupy ourselves online for a while. We saw some beautiful scenery as well. Once we arrived, we drove over to Vanessa's to pick up some things we had left there and then made a quick stop at Fresh Market before going home. By the time we picked up the dogs and made it back to our house, it was 11:00 at night. It had been a long day and we were exhausted, but it was worth it!