Christmas Day

And the summary continues . . .

Christmas morning I woke up and heard Mom, Dad, and Jackson talking. Jackson got in bed with Mom and Dad to keep warm, then Carli woke up and went to join them. I could hear them talking about me so I spoke up and said I was warm where I was. However, eventually I got up and went to join them in their bed. It was a king size bed, but it was still a bit of a squeeze to fit all five of us under the covers at once. My dad read us Luke 2 and then we all got up and ready to go do stockings. In my stocking I found an apron that said “Queen of Everything” on it (that was as close as they could find to Princess of the World), a beautiful scarf that I jokingly fashioned as a burka (reminiscent of the domestic violence lecture), an oven mitt with a pattern of snowflakes, medicated lip balm for extremely dry lips, and fingernail clippers and files.

After stockings were done, we sang some songs, and my dad played his guitar, for a Christmas program that my sister had organized. We ate breakfast, and then it was time to open presents.  I don’t know how big the pile is usually under your tree, but ours is usually modest. We didn’t have a tree this year, but our pile was tiny. That’s because my mom and dad gave Carli and me less tangible presents. I get to go to Belize with HELP International this summer, and Carli gets to go out East for spring break. My favorite present that I did get Christmas morning was from my Grandma Marion. She gave me a “Plaid Cookbook” from Better Homes and Gardens. It is a perfect complement to my Grandma HB’s presents: measuring cups and spoons, a bread knife, and a cake decorating tool.

When presents were over we all suited up and went snowshoeing. It was great fun, and not much harder than walking normally. We hiked over fields and into the nearby mountains. My dad says we probably went about a mile. After not too far, Carli and Mom went back to get the sleds while my dad and I went on to find somewhere with steep enough downhill. We found a likely looking spot and Dad went back to find Carli and Mom while I scouted ahead to find a good trail. I hiked up and down a fairly steep part of the mountain four or five times making track for the sled and looking for good spots. When Mom, Dad, and Carli got back they picked a trail and we all hiked up it packing it down as we went. I tried to go up without my show shoes at first so I wouldn’t have to carry them down, but I sank up to my knees in snow so I put them back on. We had a great time sledding, and took turns videoing each other as we sped down. It was too fast for pictures. Everything went fine until the very end. Dad took the very last run and he got going faster than ever before. Normally we would stop in some soft churned up snow right before a small group of trees, but my dad was going too fast. He put out his hand to stop himself, realized that was a bad idea, started to pull his hand back in, and smashed into the tree: wrist then shoulder. Luckily he didn’t break anything because he has 13 cases this week.

We hiked back to the house had super (somewhere between lunch and dinner) and watched “A Knights Tale.” Later that night Mom and Dad went out and got in the hot tub. After they came back in and showered and got dressed I went out with Dad to put the lid back on. When I stepped out to squat to get some leverage my entire leg went right off the deck and into the snow up to my hip. It was so cold. Then my dad came around the other side to see what was up and did the exact same thing. He finally got the lid on practically by himself and we went back inside.

We stayed up a little longer, went to bed, slept all night, and woke up the next morning. Then we packed, cleaned up a little, Mom and Dad put the chains on the car (it had started snowing again), and headed home. All in all a fairly satisfying vacation.