It’s time again to fill one post with ALL the things!
The days before Christmas were filled with fun and errands.
We ate at Spaghetti Factory
I generally love The Old Spaghetti Factory. It’s an Italian chain restaurant that opened its first location in Portland, Oregon in 1969. We had one in downtown Seattle from 1970 until 2016. Since its closure, we’ve frequented a location in the burbs. Besides coming for the tasty pasta, this visit we wanted to get a special collectible holiday glass. Goal achieved as you can see from the photo above.
I readied our holiday table
I am a nerd for a fun tablescape. So, during the holidays (ALL of the holidays) I like go a little “extra” with my table decor. We’ve been doing this blue, coastal, snow thing the last couple of years, but I have lots of other options depending on my mood each year.
I visited mom
Mom was Christmas. All of my holiday traditions, and touches I add to my day come from mom. Decorations she made or bought adorn our house. I make the same food she prepared every year of my life. There was a time this year (after we’d heard the news about her cancer’s return) that I thought she would still make it to the holidays. Knowing Christmas Day would be hectic, I took advantage of the sunshine to spend some time at her gravesite on Christmas Eve. I brought flowers, sat and had a little cry. She is so missed.
Another dinner out
The last several years we have gone to a nearby Mexican restaurant for Christmas Eve dinner. Partly because the holidays involve so much cooking, I just want someone else to feed me. Partly because we really enjoy eating beside the restaurant’s indoor fire pit. After we always take a final look at our town’s holiday decor.
CHRISTMAS!
Santa time
Christmas morning we were up before the sun to discover Santa had filled our stockings overnight. How that guy gets into the house every year with no one noticing will forever amaze me. Our stockings were filled with chocolates, games, and even some toys.
Breakfast with the extended fam
It has been a life long tradition that the extended family on my dad’s side all have breakfast together Christmas morning. We still gather in my grandparent’s old house (my aunt and uncle bought the house before my grandparents passed). We have eggs, bacon, sausage and cinnamon rolls followed by gifts.
So many gifts.
This part of the day has been my favorite all of my life. Some tears were shed this year as my dad gifted family members items that had been made by mom, but it was so nice to be together.
Our house
After breakfast we headed home to prep for afternoon visitors. I got our turkey stuffed and into the oven. A close friend popped in to drop off a gift. I put out appetizers and eventually dad and my cousin came over for dinner (and MORE gifts).
After-mas
SGS Gifts
Under my tree this year were two gifts I saved for the end of Christmas night. Both were from silver gold stacker friends. One of the two was from my “Secret Santa”!
My “not secret Santa” gift came from @silverd510. There was a card and an assortment of candies. He also sent this lovely Nevada Goldback. Thank you Silver D!
And now for my Secret Santa gift!
First… the note.
Second… the back of the note, which Google translate indicated is some kind of olive bread recipe.
As you may have noticed, the back of the note was all in Greek. 🇬🇷
Now let’s look at the coins.
The coin on the far left is a 1960 Greek drachma. It is composed of 83.5% silver and features a portrait King Paul I of Greece on its obverse. On the reverse is an image of the moon goddess Selene.
The middle coin is a 1981 2 Lev coin from Bulgaria. This coin commemorates the 1300 year of Bulgaria’s establishment. The church featured on the coin is the Boyana Orthodox. It is a UNESCO world heritage sight famous for its medieval frescos.
The coin on the right is the 2023 “Ram of Calvary”. Struck by the Sunshine Mint, this .9999 pure coin has a face value of $2 Niue. It is one of four coins in the “Truth Series” and has a maximum mintage of 250,000. Its obverse features the Ram of Calvary head below the Hebrew inscription for Jesus. The reverse features the seal of Niue.
Thank you @trumpman Secret Santa for these great coins!
The remainder of the holiday season.
My husband and I are lucky to be off from work until January 6th! So we have few more activities lined up post Christmas. The night before last we had dinner with my husband’s cousin and wife. Tonight we have friends coming over for pizza and video games. New Year’s Eve we are attending a black tie wedding, and after the new year I think we might pop down to the Oregon coast for a couple of nights.
I hope everyone who celebrates had a Merry Christmas, and I hope the New Year brings only good things for us all.
❤️ dfinney
All images are my own unless otherwise noted.
Wow, your secret Santa has a nice wiener 😂 and how thoughtful of him/her to include it in your letter 🤣
The first two coins are cool, love the shine on that Bulgarian one. Merry Christmas again!
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It’s too bad the wiener wasn’t bigger. At that minuscule size it was barely worth mentioning. 🤔
😭
😄😂
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Lmao at "sorcery"
It's μαγιά (bakers yeast) not μάγια (spells/sorcery) 😂😂😂
Silly Google
Bakers are sorcerers 💯
!pimp
You know it’s one of those evil eyes baked right into the bread.
🧿
I love your Christmas table, it's beautiful, and the shark costume.
Thank you so much! 🤗
Looks like you had a nice Christmas D! Mine was super low key quiet. Traditional Philippine christmas lunch (Fast food) and the afternoon with my sister and kids.
You have a Philippine fast food restaurant that is open ON Christmas?!!!
Did your sister feed you too?
Looks like some nice festivities. Glad you got to have a nice time.
There’s no doubt who that is from the crazy Greek bitch….. @trumpman…..🤣🤣🤣
Yeah it turned out alright. And now to the post holiday blah that is January. 😄
Small steps Dfinn. If my mom finally is getting into a tree and Christmas, which I never thought would ever happen again. It will come back to you my friend.
One of our favorite restaurants is the old spaghetti factory!!!🤗
Growing up in Cincinnati we had one down at the riverfront by the ballpark... delicious food!!!A very merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, to you and your family @dfinney😀
I wonder if Cincinnati still has a spaghetti factory. So many of them have closed over the years. But then new ones open to take their place in different cities. I always worry about the one closest to our house cause the service isn’t great! And the one at south center closed last year. I would be so sad not to have one close by!
It is very sad .....they did close the one that was on Pete Rose Way.. down by the ballpark!
It was always one of our go to restaurants when we first got married!😀
Always such beautiful pictures on your posts! It's hard having lost your mom, I still miss mine every day and it's been over ten years now.
That was my question on the recipe too, sorcery? Apparently you need some black magic to make that olive bread! lol
What nice silver he sent you and a nice Goldback too! I hope you have a great New Year!
Thank you! 🥰
10 years?!!! Ugh… what a thing to have had 10 years without your mom. Doesn’t seem right nor fair. I hope you can still feel her love around you and see parts of her living in you. I miss my mom tons, but at the same time see so much of her in me… the good and the feisty! So I know she is close cause I am such a product of her upbringing.
Happy New Year to you!
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It's amazing how those cherished holiday traditions and memories can be such a powerful connection to your mom and your family's history. The decorations, the recipes, the little touches—each one is like a piece of her legacy that you keep alive every year. These traditions not only honors her memory but also brings a warmth and continuity to your celebrations. It must feel almost like having her there with you, sharing in the joy and love of the season.
Those are pretty coins from your secret Santa!
!LADY A very merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, to you and Philip, @dfinney!
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I only wish I had a little person to keep passing these traditions to after me.
Maybe the dachshunds will keep them alive? 🙃 😄
I hope you had a nice Christmas too. I was at an antique store on the Oregon coast after the new year and saw those blue and white dishes you got from your mom. Made me think of you. 💙🤍
Sounds like a very full and lovely Christmas! Awesome shiny provided by your Secret Santa and lovely family memories to cherish! Thank you for sharing a bit of your world @dfinney! Take care and enjoy the rest of your time off and have a lovely and prosperous New Year! !LADY🤗💜🎁
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Happy new year! I hope secret Santa and real Santa were good to you too! ❤️💚❤️
Thank you @dfinney! Yes, !INDEED they were very good to me! Take care!🤗❤️
Every post you write is filled with so many pictures where the love is just splashing off the screen. I love it and can't get enough of it.
Those decorations, so nice! (bit jealous as I never had that much space and never had the long lasting decoration either, sadly, it's on the future wish list haha)
Thanks for taking us with you on these holiday memories and if I don't speak to you before tomorrow midnight, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
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Happy new year to you! Hope Christmas and 3 Kings day were loads of fun. ❤️💚🩵
Thanks dear, same to you of course! I think the biggest surprise was the Three wise men's parade two days ago. Will write about it later, it was loads of fun, even though at first it seemed to turn into a disaster plan lol.
I fixed it :)
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