Trip to Seattle - Dave's B-day Party

I know...I've been "MIA" from the blog world for a couple of weeks. People start to wonder what's happened to you. I don't have a good excuse, except that life has been VERY busy lately! As you know, Steve and I went to the Oregon Coast mid-November for an early Thanksgiving with my family. The following week was Thanksgiving and then last weekend we flew out to Seattle to celebrate my uncle's 50th birthday.

This was no ordinary birthday party. My uncle Dave (my mom's younger brother) has Down Syndrome and lives with my parents full-time in Seattle. Although he is much older than me, because of his disability, Dave seems more like a younger brother to me and my sister. He has lived with my parents since my mom's father passed away in the early 90s.

Lots of people know Dave. He attends church with my parents, my sister's friends all know him, he volunteers at the Museum of Flight - where my mom works - and he bowls every weekend with a group of folks who have various developmental disabilities...so he has a lot of friends.

Dave loves nothing more than a big party and lots of music, therefore, my family decided to throw a party at the high school gym, hired a band, and nearly 100 people were invited to attend. Relatives from California and Texas flew out for the occasion, some who I hadn't seen in 10-15 years! I also got to meet my cousin's kids (an 8 yr old and 4 yr old twins) for the first time, which was really fun.

Unfortunately, Seattle got a rare snowstorm on the afternoon of the party, so some people who live further out were unable to make it due to the slick roads. But Dave was thrilled with the turnout of nearly 60 people on his special night. He even picked the menu - fried chicken and chocolate cake! (you gotta love that!) :)

I also had a great time showing Steve around my hometown, introducing him to my relatives, visiting my favorite restaurants, etc. It was a whirlwind 48-hour trip, but a lot of fun. Of course we got back on Sunday night and proceeded to fight off colds all week, but are starting to feel better now. Yesterday we got several inches of snow, with more expected tonight. It's been nice to lay low this weekend after all the craziness of traveling the past few weeks! Here are some of the pix from our trip: