Christmas has to be the most wonderful time of the year. This year it was for us, as we got to spend it with a lot of our family. Actually, we had three Christmases this year. I had such a strong feeling that we needed to spend Christmas with Benjamin and his Jessica, so we made plans to do it.
Going to California meant that we wouldn't be here to celebrate with Reed and Dorothy. So we decided to do an early Christmas with them. So we had a special dinner, nativity story and talent show. It was quite fun. We exchanged our gifts then too. It was a lovely time. Here's Reed and Bruce performing for the talent night.
Who knew that this would be an especially snowy December? After all, there has been very little of it for the past six years. Perhaps the prayers of so many, asking for moisture explains it. Whatever the reason, the snow has come. We planned to drive to California, since we had gifts to bring. It is a good thing we did as many flights in and out of various places in the West have been cancelled. But the drive to and from there was an adventure. We started out the Wednesday before Christmas, bound for Ben and Jessica's. The drive into Winnemucca went smoothly and easily. We spent a peaceful night there, except for Angelica's complaint about Layne's snoring. I admit he is a pretty noisy guy at night.
The next day brought a different experience. All went well until we got through Reno. As we approached Truckee we found ourselves in a snowstorm and as we were proceeding through it we slowed to a stop behind a long line of cars. It wasn't long before there was also a long line behind us. And so we all stayed there, parked, for almost two hours! Who knows why, as, once the line of cars began to move, we inched forward with no sign of a problem. Our progress from then on was slow, but we finally did make it through the snow, over Donner pass and, finally, into the valley below, where traffic finally moved at a normal pace. We arrived at the BJs some three hours late. It was so good to finally be there!
Here's our snowy drive.
Ben and Jessica are remodeling their home. It isn't quite finished yet, but it is done enough for them to be able to move back in, and for things to be almost normal. There are some lovely features in their newly redone space, like two dishwashers for one thing. It is pretty convenient when there are so many mouths to feed. The BJs are a fun loving family. We spent Thursday evening through Sunday morning with them. We had a fun pj Christmas Eve and a very well planned Christmas morning. Ben put lots of thought into each gift and offered them to the kids in phases, distributed by theme. We were so impressed! It was such fun being with the family and the time passed very quickly. Donner pass was closed by Sunday so we decided to leave a little earlier than planned and drive north. So we left Sunday morning.
Here's Ben, handling Christmas morning masterfully.
The drive up the California coast Sunday morning was beautiful. We stopped for lunch in Oregon and headed East, guided by the "google girl." She took us on a collection of back roads through a forest full of snow, in a snowstorm. It was a plodding 30 mile an hour drive for what seemed like hours and hours. It was beautiful though. When the gas tank gets below a half tank, Layne begins to stress a bit. He began to worry about finding a gas station, as there was very little of civilization on our drive. The google girl found one for us, in a small, nearby town. We headed for it and found it, located in an Indian travel center. There was so much snow it was hard to see an entrance. Layne was so excited to finally find the station that he turned in at a random place that looked perfectly fine. But it wasn't. Underneath the piles of snow there was a sizable ditch. And we drove right into it. In spite of Layne's best efforts, there was no getting out. We were not there for long when a man approached us and promised that he could get us out and we could pay him whatever we thought it was worth. We went for it, and he began digging. He dug and Layne tried moving the car, back and forth. Soon a friend of the man came to help. The two of them dug some more. Several men in trucks stopped and offered to pull us out. But our man would have none of it; he waved them on. He and his friend dug some more. Layne moved the car back and forth some more. Finally, about an hour later, we found ourselves free. Layne paid both men well. They were so excited! It was such a feel-good moment to see those men with big smiles on their faces.
By now it was almost dark. None of us were excited about continuing our drive in the dark, in a snow storm. Luckily for us, there was a motel right by the gas station. We filled the car up and headed for the motel. It was a lovely place! We enjoyed a very comfortable evening and night, enjoyed their continental breakfast and were off for home early Monday morning. After more snow and back roads, we finally emerged from the forest and the storm into the sunshine. The rest of the drive found us moving speedily along in much less snow.
We finally got home Monday afternoon, about two hours before our first Adams-Harts arrived. Chase, Morgan and the two kids came about 4:00. Cliff, Audrey, Rayne and Dom arrived a couple hours later (they had the same driving adventure we did) and Isaiah and Avery arrived that night. We had a great time enjoying another Christmas, doing puzzles, playing games and, of course, eating. It was fun to have more family time. Everyone left Thursday morning and all arrived home safely, if a bit later than planned. This is a winter full of snow! Now that there is no more traveling to be done, I love it.
Here's our tree.
