These three didn't mind. They had been counting down the days to go to McCall and be with Geoff's whole family (minus Ian).
We were the first car to arrive in to Trent & Ingrid's home in McCall and discovered the power was out. The house temps were at 30 degrees. Geoff and I went to the market to get some food and the shelves were disappearing fast under the generator lights. We learned, while shopping, that the power could be out for two to four days! We called the cars coming up to see if a plan B in Boise might be a good idea. After a few hours the lights came on, cars turned around again (after turning around to head back to Boise), and our Christmas went forward as planned.
McCall had received 65 inches of snow in the previous ten days. While we were there it probably snowed another eight to twelve. It was a winter wonderland. I haven't been around snow like that since my childhood. It was magical.
I spent the first morning prepping eight meals for the crockpot. They were in baggies ready to go, and it made my Christmas break a true vacation while still eating decently well.
Miraculously the house next door came up for rent for exactly the days we were gathering. It helped to have everyone in their own rooms, and having two kitchens and double the bathrooms was a game changer. Even the wee kids could go back and forth as they pleased. It was a perfect set-up.
The first night that everyone was there we had a Deck the Halls party that I had planned and prepped with the help of Adele and Ceci. We had everything ready for assembly before the trip. The decorations were easy enough for all ages (mostly), and the idea was to bring us all together to decorate the tree. We made popcorn strings, Danish paper baskets:
Paper globes with different Christmas papers:
And felt cardinals and doves:
We made paper chains to go up the stairs, and later to decorate for Booch's birthday party. Lastly, there were tissue paper lanterns with electric candles:
All during the party Geoff cranked out Danish ableskiver by the dozens. Some filled with jam, some with chocolate, and others rolled in powdered sugar. He really deserved some kind of endurance award! And there was hot cocoa too.
The next day was my birthday, and we kicked things off in the morning with a gingerbread house decorating party for the kids. I planned this too, knowing the event with cousins would add to the Christmas magic for my kids.
That afternoon a few people went skiing and others of us went sledding by the lake. It was a blast.
That night we went out for pizza. Little Zoey showed up like a movie star. She's three going on twenty. What a character!
Christmas Eve is Christian's birthday. A group went skiing, including Geoff and the girls. The girls had never skied before, so we thought we would expose them. We purposefully have NOT skied because of the expense, but they were hooked. In the end we extended our trip so they could fit in two more days of skiing. Ceci was determined to go down a Black Diamond run, and she did it on her fourth day. She is fearless. All picked it up well. Adele was more interested in shorter days so she went half days.
Trent spent a good portion of his skiing days helping our girls to ski. He is a master teacher and they had it on their own in a few hours. His generosity of time and skill was immeasurable. Geoff is a good skier and teacher, but Trent has something figured out!
Photo credits: Brittany
Photo credits: Brittany
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The most amazing ice crystals had formed on the shallow water:
That evening we celebrated Booch with a fondue party organized by Ingrid. Yummy melted cheese with ham, baguettes and fresh veggies followed by a chocolate dip with fruit, marshmallows and more. Yum!
Christmas morning still comes really early with our girls. We beat everyone up by an hour, at least. They got the first glimpse of the tree.
Emily and family opened gifts together in the rental next door. The rest of us opened stockings and then had our individual family holiday breakfasts before three plus hours of opening gifts. We had a ham and veggie quiche with cinnamon rolls.
On occasion my family will throw in some white elephant gifts when we spend Christmas together. Last year, when we spent Christmas with my brother Mitch and his family I got this beauty from Joann (it is a candle):
We gave it to Booch and Heather "from Santa". It was mysterious and unexpected. Booch opened it with some anticipation. I couldn't stop laughing before it was even open so they soon figured something was up. Darnit! Booch danced around and made a big fuss. It added a great element of fun to the present opening. We gave Nikki Happy Childhood Memories Mouth Spray, and Keenan got Handerpants. I had a picture of him donning those babies, but I think I accidentally deleted it.
It was a relaxing day at home with the house a wreck but the kids happily engaged with new toys and games.
TO BE CONTINUED...
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