Our Christmas Vacation

I’m not sure where to begin to tell about the wonderful time we had visiting our friends and family back home in Oregon. We tried as best we could to pack a lot into the 16 days that we were there…maybe even a little too much, because I ended up getting a terrible cold and fever halfway through the trip (probably a result of sleep-deprivation). The best part was walking off the plane and seeing my mom, dad, sister and her two youngest, and my brother’s oldest boy there waiting for us (see pictures below). They had balloons and candy for Lauren and my dad gave me flowers. I was trying my best to hold back the tears, but when Lauren starting crying while hugging her cousins, I lost it. It was so good to see everyone again and as much as we refer to North Carolina as our home, our hearts are still very much in Oregon.




























We spent the first few days getting adjusted, going to my nephew’s basketball game, and doing some last minute Christmas shopping & wrapping. Ryan’s mom and step-dad also treated us to a wonderful Christmas concert that first weekend. Because my family has 5 birthdays in the month of December, we celebrated all of them with one big party on Sunday night. My mom offered to watch the little kids so the rest of us could go see “National Treasure: Book of Secrets”. When we got back to my parents house after the movie, she had dinner made, the table beautifully decorated (see below) and everything ready. It was a very fun evening - the best part was when Lauren and Evan (my brother's 4-year-old son) performed for us...she sang "Away in a Manger" and he did the hand motions (see picture below). Too cute!!
































The next day, the Christmas festivities began – we spent Christmas Eve with Ryan’s family at his mom’s house and enjoyed a wonderful brunch with his mom, step-dad and grandmother…and then spent about an hour opening presents and visiting. That night, we attended the Christmas Eve service at our church and saw a lot of our old friends there – it was so great to be back. We really love our new church home here, but have missed the smaller, more intimate setting of our old church. After church, we headed over to my brother’s house for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner with my whole family. We all ate dinner and then put the kids to bed so the adults could do the “white elephant” gift exchange. We then played “Catch Phrase” for a while and stuffed stockings before heading to bed.

Christmas morning was a flurry of activity as the kids opened their stockings. The most exciting part was watching my sister’s 16-year-old open the keys to his first car, a 1994 Chevy Z28 Camaro! We spent, literally, the whole rest of the day working through the pile of presents under the tree and assembling the toys the kids opened. The other big gift was the Wii that my sister’s kids got – and my brother and Ryan spent the rest of the day glued to Guitar Hero III, living out their rock star dreams. :) The other absolutely amazing thing was that it snowed – the last time that happened on Christmas Day in Oregon was over 15 years ago! Lauren had been praying that it would snow while we were home visiting, since we heard that North Carolina rarely gets snow. And, even though it wasn’t a lot, the snowfall we got was beautiful, dusting everything in white…just enough to cover the streets and to prove to our little girl the power of prayer.

We spent a nice quiet New Years’ Eve with my parents at their house, playing games and watching some of my favorite old Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movies. The rest of our trip was spent saying goodbye to Ryan’s family after a lunch at his grandmother’s place and then packing our bags to head over to the beach for 3 days with my family. My brother-in-law had won a beach house at a recent auction and had saved the reservation so we could all go and stay together. It was a beautiful house right on the water and even though it was rainy and stormy the whole time we were there, we had a lot of fun. It was a great chance for Lauren to play with her cousins and for the adults to stay up late playing games and watching movies.

Overall, we had a wonderful visit…but, the goodbyes were no easier than when we moved in June. It was hard knowing that I would miss the birth of my brother’s 3rd baby (due any day now!!) and that they would not all be here for Nolan’s arrival. But, one thing I have learned is to focus on the positive (or I’ll go crazy). So, we are anxiously looking forward to my parents visit in March (and hopefully, my sister too!) and we are praying we can afford for Lauren and Nolan and I to fly back and stay with my family for a month in the summer. The distance certainly makes us appreciate the times we do get to spend and to cherish them all the more.