I have a few favorite moments from the last couple days I’d like to share, as this Christmas is one that will surely be among my most memorable.
First off, it’s just been the whitest Christmas EVER here. Christmas Eve saw snow up to my knees, which I haven’t experienced since I was 12, when my knees were a little closer to the ground. Then I woke up on Christmas morning and it had snowed another 10 inches overnight. There was snow to my hip!! I was dragging my nephew around in it as a snowplow while we unsuccessfully attempted to make Frosty (the snow is too powdery to pack together properly). And it’s still snowing today!
Second memory is the s’mores. Last year in the Philippines we spent our Christmas on an out of the way tropical island, and for Christmas Eve we all roasted marshmallows and ate s’mores on a white sand beach. Right then I decided that this would be a new Christmas Eve tradition for me, to always remember my World Race family and the time we had together, and hey, any excuse for some s’mores. So this year my youngest sister Leia and I fired up the gas stove top (no sense trying to light a fire in all that snow) and roasted up our marshmallows.
I had to laugh at our supplies, because while we were in the middle of the Philippines we had managed to get our hands on real graham crackers, Hershey’s chocolate bars, and big fluffy marshmallows. Well, here I am a 5 minute drive from the nearest supermarket (if we could find the cars under the snow) and I’m having to improvise, using tree shaped gingerbread cookies with sprinkles, liqueur centered Christmas chocolate, and sticky old marshmallows we found in the bottom of the baking drawer. Necessity really is the mother of invention: Christmas s’mores are delicious, and I think I’ll make them this way every year.
And the best memory for last. Christmas morning, after my dad dug out all the cars from the snow and plowed us a way to the main road with his tractor, we all made the journey to my sister’s place for a few more gifts and brunch (which didn’t happen until 1pm due to said snowplowing). Well, the gifts were opened and I was trying to turn my nephew’s new transformer from a vehicle into a robot when the head popped off and skittered under the couch. So, despite the fact that someone was sitting on that couch, I slid it away from the wall and dove behind it in search of the poor things head. I was down there for close to a minute, found the head, stood up triumphantly and pushed the couch back in place. This is when I looked up to see everyone focused on the middle of the room. So I looked to see what was going on. And there, right in front of the Christmas tree, my sister Brenna was staring into the eyes of her boyfriend Rob as he got up off his knee and put a beautiful diamond ring on her finger.
And I’m standing there exclaiming ‘What did I just miss?!’
She had of course said yes, by the way, and now they’re engaged! There were some tears from the girls in the room and, as Brenna would, she immediately started announcing wedding plans to us. Somehow I missed getting a shot of both of them, but here’s some shots of the ring.
So, for Christmas this year I got a new recipe for an already amazing snack, more snow than I’ve ever seen on Christmas day, and a brother. Food, play time, and family. I think this might have to go down as my best Christmas ever. I hope Jesus’ birthday celebration has been amazing and blessed for all of you as well. Enjoy the rest of your holidays!
