Home for the Holidays

This year, Christmas brought a calm and sweet respite for us.  It also brought record snowfall and frigid temperatures to the area which, while it was inconvenient at times, transformed the landscape into a white winter wonderland for weeks.

Due to the weather, I was able to take the entire week of Christmas off from work.  While thoughts of sitting at home next to a glowing fire sounded romantic & idyllic, my days were primarily spent away from home as I accompanied Dave on various journeys through the compact snow and ice to transport stranded family members.  And while it may not be the ideal way to spend one's Christmas vacation, it was nice to spend time with Dave, and entrust him to driving in what I can only term as my "worst nightmare".

 On Christmas Eve, we headed to the Goodwin's house where we watched the grandkids open their one Christmas Eve present - colorful & festive holiday PJs.  Then we feasted on a beautiful spread of cold cuts, cheeses, breads, Sun chips, dried fruit, sparkling juices and a lot of sugar.  As the festivities were winding down and we were gearing up for the weather outside (which was indeed frightful), I was seriously questioning my silly decision to eat that last handful of dried apricots and apples.  No need to fear - Sprite came to the rescue and saved the day.  :)

This year, Dave got me skis, poles & boots - and I bought him ice climbing tools (well, he picked them out & paid for them, but they were from me!).  With those big gifts, we decided to opt out of stockings and other little things.  As soon as we awoke, we got ready to go back to Goodwin's for Christmas morning.  As walked out the front door, we were greeted with yet another blanket of snow as puffy snowflakes continued to fall.  

After the tornado of wrapping paper and ribbons had settled, we began preparing the great Christmas breakfast.  Rachel baked orange and cranberry scones, Jon stirred the scrambled eggs, Kathleen poured the waffle batter and I was assigned to bacon duty.  After making swift work of the pork products, I whipped up a batch of the fluffiest blueberry pancakes ever (with great thanks given to Lehi Roller Mills' mix).   Topping things off with a sweet blueberry syrup, we heartily feasted on this bounty as the snowflakes grew larger and the children's eyes grew bigger!

At that point, we hopped back in our truck and drove out to Snohomish, where the snow was even more plentiful, to see my family.   With the exception of Kali's family, everyone was there: Eric & his kids were still in the throes of a most bountiful and blessed Christmas morning; David, Rachel & Rhees flew in on Monday and had been staying there since then; with the bad weather, my parents and Brent had come over the day

 previously and spent the night to be there for the grand opening of presents.  

After exchanging gifts and playing around with the many aspects of Wii-Fit, we dressed everyone in their warmest layers and headed to Riverview Elementary School for the perfect Christmas activity - sledding!  With nearly 1 1/2 feet of snow, the conditions were amazing.  Kali's family showed up a short time later to join in the fun. The kids had a blast - and I think the "adults" would agree!   I do have to say that David's little boy had a distinct advantage to the rest of the kids; they live in Utah where he is an experienced sledding tyke.  It had been a long time since I'd been sledding - in fact, the last time was after a lengthy trip to the mountains to get to snow.  You have to remember that the greater Seattle area just does not typically get snow like this - at Christmas or any time, for that matter! 

Rachel & I, using very creative methods and items, cooked and presented a Christmas dinner not to be rivaled years to come.  OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but we were quite proud of using what we had to make a dinner of braised pork roast, fresh veggies & dip, mashed potatoes & homemade gravy, steamed broccoli, rolls, & fruit punch.  After stuffing ourselves silly, we chatted while everyone took their turn on the Rockband circuit.  As the loud, heavy bass line pumped throughout the house, we began to realize that we were surrounded by budding lead singers, guitarists and drummers! 

Before saying our goodbyes, we capped off the evening with chocolate cream pie and pumpkin pie.  Then we made our way home in the snow - full, content and happy to return to our quiet little home.  While traveling can be fun and exciting, it was so nice to be home for the holidays.