The One with the Different Sort of Christmas

There is never enough time.

Visits home always seem to fly by.

And time for relaxing and time for doing this that and the other thing seems to escape.

We left at 6:30am for my parents' house.

Well, their church actually.

We beat them to church.

Which really isn't unexpected if you know my mom.

:)

They had a 15 minute drive.

We drove 3 plus hours.

Funny?

I think yes.

It was wonderful to catch up with so many people I grew up loving.

Lynn, Erin and Corey.

Tabitha & Adam and her parents.

Sara & Kevin and her family.

And many more.

We got home and had lunch with our extended family.

Grams was there.

She's always there. ;)

Aunt Linda, Uncle Larry, Joe & Mike and Joe's lovely girlfriend.

I was glad to catch up with all them though it was just for a minute.

The rest of the evening was filled with a belated Christmas.

Leftovers.

And relaxing.

Mr. Phelps stopped by for our traditional exchange as well.

Love those mini Reese's and McDonald's gift cards.

Monday was full.

And wonderful.

I talked to Maria for an hour on the phone.

As our schedules never coordinated.

We visited Gramma Mary for a while.

She hadn't seen Kevin since last Christmas so she was quite thrilled.

And then we headed out to see Elizabeth & Owen.

We had a fabulous visit, though we missed Matt.

::what a ham! love this little guy!::

Matt & Elizabeth's Owen

::Elizabeth, Owen, and Mel::

I'm pretty sure I don't believe we're all grown up.

::Elizabeth, Owen, and Mel::

mmm, Apple Cinnamon Baby Snacks

::oh how time flies!::

Christmas 2008

::Our Owen Photo: Christmas 2009::

That evening, we went out for Covered Bridge Pizza.

Love it!

It was blizzardous conditions, but Lynn, Corey and Erin braved it.

They came to play a rousing game of "Things."

We always have such fun with them.

Laughter is never lacking.

We went to bed early to prepare for a night on the slopes.

Dad took Ash, Kevin and I to Holiday Valley.

It was part of our many wonderful Christmas gifts.

(One of which was a TomTom GPS!)

Kevin opted out of snowboarding lessons.

He decided he didn't want to feel guilty in case he didn't love it and thus "waste" dad's money.

He rather enjoy the day of lounging...reading and computering in the lodge.

He loved seeing me ski down Yodeler run and warming me up on my breaks.

This enabled me to spend the day with my dad.

Dad was on the board.

Ash was too.

I was skiing.

It had been two years but it came back quickly.

I'm pretty sure having the strength in my legs from running really made skiing easier.

I had a blast and didn't fall.

I was thankful.

Because when I go down.

I go down hard.

(Lyrics, anyone?)

There was just once that I found myself literally shaking in my boots.

Dad and I headed up Eagle chair.

Which serviced 3 black runs.

(In case you're not into ski slope lingo:

Black Diamond: most difficult

Blue: Intermediate

Green: Easiest

Granted, "Black" is all relative...)

We decided Eagle run would be icy so we headed to Falcon.

I peered over the edge.

This was a steeeeeeep slope.

It looked nearly vertical for the top half of the run.

But I could have handled that.

It was the ice that concerned me.

There weren't patches here and there.

The entire slope was a sheet of ice.

Glinting in the sun.

EEek.

My insides churn just recalling the memory.

But I had no option.

So instead of waiting till I was too scared to move, I took the plunge.

I didn't fall.

And honestly I can't even remember the experience after I took that first turn.

Maybe that's for the best.

But the rest of the day was fabulous.

REALLY cold (10 degrees not counting wind chill).

But great!

::oh, daddio::

::Yodeler Chair::

::gearing up for a run down Mardi Gras hill. ash and dad::

::dad & ash overlooking the base of Holiday Valley::

::at the peak of Cindy's Run::

Thanks again, Mom and Dad for a great Christmas.

I know it's tough to let traditions be broken.

But memories are still treasured.

As was our time with you.