Sure enough, that whole Christmas thing got away on me, and I got away from blogging!
All of December was wonderful, though ... first of all, we went up to Sri's mountaintop retreat in Parksville for the first time. It's hard to believe that it's been four years since Susan died, and Sri bought this property at the end of that first year -- he's been wanting us to see it since. It was beautiful .... and difficult.
He had to pick us up at the foot of the mountain (a 20-minute drive from Parksville) and take us up in his 4 x 4. That's the Strait of Georgia in the background -- the view was amazing!
Sri and his new wife Maryann are building a yoga retreat up there -- they've got their cabin done, and one of the 'classrooms.'
This is the path up to the memorial he built for Susan .... it was too cold to walk up there, but maybe if we go back up in the summer, I'll do it.
We spent the night at our favorite motel on the beach, as always - this view will never get old!
I decorated the boat minimally for Christmas ... I went with a 'red' theme.
I saved my energy and our decorations for the house ... we got to house- and dog-sit for the property owners this year, so I was able to host Christmas in a two-storey, 6-bedroom house! All the kids and grandkids were here for most of the holiday ... it was wonderful. And I was so 'in the moment,' apparently, that I never once took out my camera until they'd all gone! (I'm kicking myself for that now.... but I did get this shot of Ben, the dog, in the spirit of Christmas!)
Everyone liked all their handknit gifts, too, and of course, we ate too much, and had a great time!
The lights will come down tomorrow. I'm ready to be done with Christmas, now. :) Happy New Year, everyone!
