Christmas 2010

We spent 11 days in Eastern Washington with my family, two days more than we expected, courtesy of getting voluntarily bumped from our flight home on Christmas Eve. That meant we were with family on Christmas Day and Ben and Lucy got to spend more time doting on their new little cousin Harper.

Highlights of the trip:

• Long walks
• Good conversation
• Lots of laughter
• Movie nights, including Wall Street 2, Inception, Despicable Me (which I slept through TWICE!)
• Couples' dinner with two siblings and their spouses
• Andy getting to drive my bro-in-law's sporty Mazda RX-8
• Watching the finale of "The Sing-Off"
• Going bowling three times
• Lucy spending most of the vacation running around the house sans clothing
• A solo pedicure at my favorite ghetto nail salon - just me, massaging hands, and a stack of magazines
• Driving around seeing all the new construction in my hometown
• Lots of helping hands to play with Ben and Lucy
• The family gift exchange (hot items included an Elvis impersonator set and a Sham-Wow! car cleaning kit)
• Duets on the piano with my sisters
• Wrapping mountains of gifts (none for us as ours were home in Ohio since we were planning on being home for Christmas Day)
• Innumerable air hockey and ping pong matches
• Delicious treats and hot cocoa concoctions
• Waching Ben and Lucy have fun with Grandma, Grandpa, the aunties, and uncles
• Celebrating Kira's birthday on Dec. 22nd with a homemade pizza night (I heart BBQ chicken pizza)
• Lots of bubbly (sparkling cider) and other fizzy beverages (Cactus Cooler or Diet Dr. Thunder, anyone?) Ben got his soda fix for the year
• Family dinners around the big dining room table
• Myriad trips to the nearby Wal-Mart for necessary provisions and hoping I wouldn't run into anyone from my past. Mission almost succesfully accomplished except for seeing a girl I went to church with as a teenager who introduced me to her newborn daughter named Nollie. Very surreal to have a namesake, especially when you have such an uncommon name. Can I ask for royalties?
• Watching Harper, the budding fashionista, model her new winter wardrobe
• A hilarious and very loose re-enactment of the Nativity story
• Going out for Chinese food Christmas Eve
• "Reindeer Games" - a.k.a. reserving the church gym and spending the day playing blind volleyball, dodgeball, tag in the dark with glow necklaces, and other games with the winners getting cash prizes (we're talking single dollars here)
• Trips to visit the neighboring horses and feed them apples and carrots
• Rides on Grandpa Jeff's tractor
• Not having to check bags on the airplane in either direction

All in all, it was was a relaxing and joyful visit. I love my family; Blood relatives, in-laws, and out-laws alike.