It was good to be home! We spent the next day shopping for groceries and getting our tree. It was slim pickings but we did find a nice full one.
Our first night home, Eric and Holly came to dinner and it was wonderful to have them back in Alaska, after living in Colorado for three years. We had lots of fun catching up and enjoying time with them while we were home.
I had to restrain myself from taking out all of the Christmas decorations since in three short weeks it would all have to be put away. Once the tree was up and the presents wrapped, it was time to see family and friends. Christmas eve came quickly and we spent the evening with Bob's brother, Denny and his wife, Kelly. We awoke to a white Christmas morning and relaxed until the Eric, Holly, Jeremy and Lalanya arrived for brunch.
We then opened our gifts. Bob and I thanked everyone and expressed that the best present was having us all together. Just then, Lalanya jumped up and said that there was one last present and that we had to open them at the same time. We were shocked to see two little bibs that said “I love Grandma” and “I love Grandpa”, some booties, and a picture of a sonogram that said, Merry Christmas Grandma and Grandpa! I cannot express the sheer surprise and exhilaration that we felt as our tears of joy fell and we hugged Mom and Dad-to-be! It was our favorite present to be sure.
It was time to call Mom and Dad in NY to see if they had opened their gift, announcing the news that they were going to have their first great grand-baby.
That evening we had our traditional Christmas dinner of King Crab and shrimp. It was delicious, as usual. We were happy that Justin, Randi Marie(our adopted daughter), Rylan, new baby Colbie and Lalanya's Mom could join us, also. Unfortunately, Lance was back on the North Slope working.
A few years ago,the boys started a new tradition of watching old videos of their childhood. Eric found one that we had not remembered seeing for many years. It was of Jeremy doing a PeeWee Herman impersonation in his underwear. We were all laughing so hard, we did not hear Den, Kelly, Corey, Kevin, Chelsea, Chelsea's sister, Alaina, and Lori and Johnny Bea come in. Before long, we were all stuffed into our TV room roaring at the antics of Jeremy and Eric. Enough for movies, it was time for another tradition, our annual card game.
There were so many of us, the guys sat at one table playing Texas Holdem' and the women played “21” at the other. Jeremy was the big winner at Texas Holdem' and Alaina won at our table. It was a perfect and memorable Christmas.
After Christmas, the weather warmed up and I was able to do some cross-country skiing around the lake and on our trails. It was fun to be out playing in the fresh snow.
We celebrated a quiet New Years eve at home and we spent New Years Day with Jay, Marta, Eric and Holly.
On January 3, Eric drove us up to Anchorage and Jeremy met us at Kriner's Diner for lunch. On January 4th, Jeremy and Lalanya took us out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. The next day we left for Phoenix. It was hard to say good-bye and leave Alaska, but the sun and new adventures were beckoning.
No comments:
Post a Comment