The sun setting in the Northsea on the last day of 2022!

But let's not get ahead of myself, first there was Christmas of course ... and the main street of Den Helder , which is the street my mam looks out at (she's the lit up window at the top left of the apartment building on the right) with it's landmark water-tower on one end, was appropriately lit up for the season:

We ourselves enjoyed the cozy and very festively lit inside of 'the big house'.
We knew ahead of time that the cabin was rented out for a week over the holidays, and my cousin was spending the holidays at her son's, so we had moved into my cousin's place .. it all worked out perfectly!

   

There was a big tree and even a wood-burning stove (and another fireplace)! Talking about cozy!
We had a traditional 'Wheinachts-Stollen' for breakfast, which is actually a German bread but is a staple on every Dutch Christmas breakfast ..                                                         

                                

My mom came for coffee and stayed for lunch:

And in the evening we all went to my sister's for dinner ..

My sister looooves Christmas and her house transforms into the ultimate Christmas house every year:

If you weren't into 'the spirit' already it's impossible not to do so when you set foot in her beautiful, inviting and warm place!

Dinner was a joint affair, with everybody contributing something .. well, we only brought the Prosecco, but I helped doing the dishes which counts for something, no?

A week went by fast during which we had a lot more coffee get-togethers and delicious home-cooked meals cooked by my mam.
My sister and her daughter Lotte and I even squeezed in a little shopping in the quaint little city of Hoorn, about a 45 minute drive from where we were staying.

Like I said before .. shopping makes hungry!

Talking about hungry, before we knew it we'd arrived at the last day of the year, a day on which the dutch traditionally stuff themselves all day long with 'oliebollen'.
Translated in English as 'oil-balls' they don't sound very appetizing but believe me .. they are soooo good!

Now, you can buy these delicious balls at the supermarkets, bakers or, as shown in the picture above, at special oliebollen-booths that actually already appear in towns in November and at which you stand in line for quite a while on the 31st for your pick-up ...

          

Or you can bake them yourselves! James actually does a very good job every year when he bakes them in the States (he learned the art of making them from my Dad), but this year they were made by my niece Lotte!

No, we didn't eat all of those .. a few went to her clients .. just a few!

She actually has a little side-job as a home-baker and sells her delicious creations, many of which are American (muffins, brownies, scones), through her Facebook site 'Ms Mix-a-Lotte' ..

           

Well, let me tell you .. they were absolutely delicious! I ate way too many .. as usual ..

And than, there it was ... the New Year!

It's going to be an interesting one for sure .. James will, hopefully, get licensed as a real-estate appraiser, which will open the door to maybe moving to a different location here in Oregon and maybe, maybe going south next winter for a couple of months ..
We'll see, if there's anything we've learned in the last few years it is not to plan too far ahead. Life is funny that way .. it's rather unpredictable.

The sun rising on the first day of 2023!