Holiday Magic

What whirlwind couple of weeks. Graduation, snow, Christmas, Graduation party, birthday and New Years. It took a lot of patience but we made it through it and it was perfect!

With a full two weeks off leading up to Christmas I certainly thought I would be able to manage it very well. I was going to be more prepared for this Christmas than ever before. But then the snow hit. It was beautiful but frustrating. It limited my ability to shop, decorate with outside lights and almost prevented both sons from getting home. That would have been totally unacceptable and luckily was not the case.

After graduation in Pullman, my son had to load up his car and make it back home with the remainder of his worldly possessions. The weather could not have been worse and it was bound to happen, the accident on the way home. It was the weather's fault. It happened to more than one student, parent and people like me. I got the call which my son described as my worse nightmare. He was wrong, my worse nightmare call would be if he were hurt or worse. In this case, it was just a car, not worth that much anyway, and after a delay of a day, he did make it home and it put this holiday more into perspective. Having my sons home was the single most important part of this holiday season. He arrived home on Saturday and we immediately went out and got our tree, in the snow and very cold. It was so cold, the tree had to be brought inside to thaw out so that the tree stand could be put on and it would take water.

Saturday, December 20th it snowed alot! Saturday night, the plane carrying my other son was supposed to arrive from Alaska at 10:08 pm. We heard rumors that the airport was closed. We had been told that if the plane could not land in Seattle, it would be diverted to Boise. We left our house at 7:30 knowing it would take us that long to navigate the heavy snow and abandoned vehicles in our Subaru to get to the airport. I did not want to get there and have to come home empty handed. As treacherous as it was, we made it, he made it and after stopping to eat we made it home at 2:30 am, a family united once again. This is all that mattered to me.

I love Christmas. I love the Cougars. What better combination than a 100% Cougar Christmas Tree. I haven't counted the number of ornaments on this tree but I believe it is in the area of 150. This tree was put up earlier in December so I could enjoy it that much longer. I even got it posted on the WSU Alumni Association Cougar Pride website.

We hosted Christmas Eve as we always do. I was very pleasantly surprised to find that all but a few people were able to attend in spite of the snow. It was great to see my niece from Maryland and her husband but we missed my other niece, husband and great nephew Haywood. It would have been our first Christmas Eve in a long time with a young one around. The group was festive and we were able to get a good group picture in front of our tree.

Christmas Day was special, being able to spend it again with Grandma and Grandpa. They are almost 90 years old and still able to come for Christmas morning. We are so happy for that. With the might Subaru we were able to make it to Seattle for Christmas Dinner with the rest of the family and other than getting scratched by their cat, it was a good time.

Immediately after Christmas we had to prepare for the Graduation Party on the 28th. We had a lot of people attend and it was very special. It was so fun to have my husbands highschool buddies come and they spent a lot of time talking to his parents about good times at their house in high school. My son's highschool friends attended also as well as my best friend from highschool, Scott and his wife Ronda. It was very special and appropriate for the accomplishment for which it was a celebration. It was especially nice to spend time with my nephew and his family after everyone else left. They are such a wonderful family and we don't get to see enough of them. Maddie was recovering from injuries sustained in a collapse at the ice skating rink earlier in the week and we were so glad she was okay.

Things are gradually getting back to normal. My birthday was great, meeting grandparents at the casino for a great dinner and some fun (even though I did have to go back to work that day) Somewhere along the way I got a bad cold and we unfortunately had to cancel plans with Scott and Ronda for New Years. We look forward to going to their house every New Year's Eve but just weren't up to it this year. We are going to force ourselves upon them some other time though because there is really nothing like sitting in their living room, looking out over the water and enjoying their company.

So, if I were to sum up my thoughts for this holiday season, it is holiday magic. That's what I call it when so many family and friends are able to survive the weather, circumstances beyond their control, and manage to get together with the most important people in their lives. I am very grateful for that.