A very merry Thacher-Crawford Thanksgiving in Whidbey!!!

This was the first official year that Robert and I were both away from our home. We were fortunate enough to have my mom and dad, a.k.a. Mom and Dad Thacher, with us to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in Washington. Throughout the week they were here we did many different and exciting things. Mom and dad were able to to meet many of the friends we have made, travel to Port Townsend, ride the ferry, explore some museums, eat at our favorite "nice" place on the island "The Oystercatcher,"  visit Greenbank Farm, tool around Seattle, have dinner at the Space Needle, visit the King Tut Exhibit, travel around the Naval Base and visit Robert at work (dad got a private session), explore some of Anacortes, and come into my classroom to meet my kiddos and coworkers. Overall, we enjoyed spending quality time with them and Bentley loved meeting his grandparents.  Even though the week flew by it was so nice waking up to their laughter and going to sleep with their familiar and comforting voices.  If you know anything about us Thachers, you know we are not ones to be quiet and always come ready for a good time! Saying goodbye was certainly not easy, but knowing we will see them again in August puts a big smile on our faces. I always have a list of "summer" activities for us to do and one of them is having Jewell Thacher go crabbing ;) 

In addition to the photos from Thanksgiving I have added some from our more recent trip we took with some friends to Leavenworth, WA. Each year they host the Leavenworth Christmas Lighting Festival and it truly put us into the Christmas spirit. You couldn't help but feel as if you were in a perfect Winter Wonderland! We enjoyed the caroling, lighting ceremony, tooling around the shops, eating a fabulous Italian restaurant, and staying at the 59er's Cabins. The cabins were certainly an experience!

We will be spending the Christmas Holiday in Whidbey and this will be the first time we have our own Christmas. Robert is on-call for duty throughout Christmas and New Years so we are planted in Washington. I find comfort in knowing that I get to spend my first Christmas with Robert and am excited to make our own traditions. We already have some Christmas dinner plans with friends as many other military families will be here for Christmas. If there is one thing we have learned, in our short time as a military family, it is that your friends become your family. We are fortunate to have met amazing people and look forward to continuing new friendships and traditions!

The Crawford Clan will be very busy up and through Christmas. I volunteered to host the OHE teacher staff Holiday Party at our house so we are already prepping and decorating. We have a couple Holiday Dinners and housewarming parties along with school concerts and parties. We hope y'all have a Happy Holidays and wonderful Christmas. We miss you, love you, and will be thinking of you!!!

59er's Cabin Diner (good food and shakes)

Oh little town of Leavenworth.

Bringing out the lights!

The Wright family visited and mom was able to meet
Kathryn Wright, who Nana used to babysit and happens
to live in Whidbey and teach at OHE as well :)

Welcome to Mrs. C's room!

Enjoying our "Grinch" drinks!

Stevens Pass

We got to meet Santa!!!

Bentley made a great first impression!

Blocking the door so we
 couldn't go shopping!

Dad loved the shooting range...

...as did Robert (mom did as well, but no photo to show)!

Relaxing with Bentley Bear

Dad's new favorite hot dog place!

Awesome tasting dogs.

Dinner at the Oystercatcher 

His new best friend.

Visiting the winery at Greenbank Farms

Typical view near home.

Enjoying the frozen yogurt at Whidberry!!

Robert made an amazing turkey!

The Dohms were able to join us for Turkey Dinner!

Heading into the King Tut IMAX at the
Seattle Science Museum

Waiting for dinner at the Space Needle

Robert ordered quite the dessert!

We had to see the "throwing of the fish" at the market!!!

Crawford Family photos in Whidbey Island 11.10.12

We decided it would be a brilliant tradition to start taking family photos at our various Navy locations. Our family will certainly grow over the years, but for now we are enjoying the beauty of the area and creating our own life out in Washington. Please enjoy a little taste and snapshot of our family in Whidbey Island, WA.

Thank you to our amazing and talented friend, Dano Church, for taking the photos and bringing out the natural beauty in the area we call home. Feel free to check out other photos she has taken. If you are in the area we would highly recommend using Dano as your photographer. 

http://www.danocphotography.com/

God Bless America!

The past two weeks were filled with a variety of activities! Instead of writing a summary and explaining in detail each activity, I decided it would be best and easiest to do some quick bullet points with explanations.

1. Robert had his Hail and Farewell Ceremony--We were welcomed as a military family into the NHOH Command along with other families who arrived this past summer. Men and women who were leaving were given a farewell and recognition for their time at the command before they move to their new placement. We have some pizza, cake, and spent the afternoon bowling!

2. Christmas Photos--We decided while we are out in Washington it is especially important to take a quality Christmas photo to send to family and friends. We also noticed Bentley Bear was in need of a haircut so the timing was perfect. Our friend Dano, whose photos will probably be shown in the next blog, took our photos at the beach near our house. We can't say that Bentley was on his best behavior, but I am sure we had at least one photo where he was able to face the camera!

3. Home, home on the range-- We are officially members of a shooting range! Enough said. http://www.daytraco.com/Departments/Greenes-Gun-Shop.aspx

4. Jets vs. Seahawks game--Late in the summer we found out that the base was selling discounted seats to NFL football games so we jumped at the chance for some tickets. We had great seats and it just so happened to be on Veterans Day. Part of the joy in watching an NFL game was being able to watch the opening ceremony in which they honored members of the military. The game was fantastic and the Seahawks  creamed the Jets! Robert and I both agreed that we have not been in a stadium before where the energy is so positive and the fans put their all into their team. Even through the rain and some down times everyone remained standing and optimistic. We will certainly be going back to more games before we leave the area!

5. Prepping for Thanksgiving and the arrival of Mom and Dad Thacher--- Robert has not seen my parents since the end of March 2012 and I have not seen them since July. We could not be more happy and excited to have them spend Thanksgiving 2012 with us. This will be their first time visiting Whidbey Island and their first time seeing their grandpuppy, Bentley. We have many activities and events planned so the next blog will be a big one!

My view from this past Friday while driving to school.

Before the haircut...

After the haircut!

Let's go Seahawks!!!

Time out from bowling.

Practice makes perfect!

Thank You Military

Something thrilling and awesome about
handling a gun and learning how to handle one...