T’was the Night Before…..

We can not believe how quick time zips by. It seems that we were gearing up for our Christmas in November with our kids and grandkids! Speaking of which, we all had a great time. Barb & I arrived early to help Terri & Mark with food prep, decorate the tree and to taste test the rum and eggnog! Everything was great but we had to cut down on the ice in the eggnog! Our other kids, Dawn and her family arrived and Corrie and hers, arrived with our grandkids and everyone quickly got into the swing of having a fun time. Soon, the tree was over flowing with gifts and the Christmas fever was soon in full speed with the little ones. I’m sure even the older kids were a little excited but of course, a teenager doesn’t want to show it!

The bird was carved and 15 of us sat down to a feast. The older grand kids complete their verse and light their candle on our Advent wreath then we snap the crackers, laugh at the little gifts inside and some of us revelers donned our paper hats while the noise level decreased as we were all focused on the bounty in front of us! What a meal! If anyone left hungry, it was their own fault. As for me, I could hear the alarm – beep beep beep – sound as I backed away from the table! Christmas is a time for family traditions. Besides the feasting and the Advent wreath, we also have a personal ornament that we each hang on the tree and say a little something about our past year. Some are as simple as wishing us all a Merry Christmas and others maybe are too long! This year, we were surprised by the detail even the smaller kids had in their fulfillment of ‘public speaking’! It was great!

With dinner over and the family traditions done, you know where the kids were – sitting in front of the tree, patiently waiting – oh, okay not so patient but still waiting for someone to assume the roll of Santa! Since we were at Terri & Mark’s, Alex is Santa and soon the paper is flying and squeals of delight and excitement fills the air! All the kids are surprised and happy with the gifts.

All too quickly, the pile of gifts is reduced to a pile of ripped and shredded paper but everyone is happy. The older grand kids soon retire to the TV downstairs but the little ones want batteries installed, see how things work and settle in to play. The older ones (read adults) settle in for another beverage and some chit chat. It was another great family time and the memories help to send us on our way south.

We planned a week for some rest and calm before hitting the road but this week is less than restful. I was just recovering from a cold but was generous to give it to Barb! Our cousin in London came for a visit and delivered a stained glass window. We sent her a design we would like and she did an excellent job recreating what we wanted. We visited with John & Kay again and dropped off Barb’s bears to sell at a craft show in their complex.

Since we have HD TVs and now a HD Satellite receiver, we needed some other equipment to make all the pieces work together so we needed to make a run to get the necessary stuff. Well, that took half a day and more windshield time! We’re into the countdown and started packing stuff away.

We will add more after we cross the border. Hope you have been well and come back soon for another update – we are so far behind – so busy!