Christmas Away From Home

 The Wood Artist couldn't get enough time off of work to come home for Christmas.  So we went to him.  When I found out that my grandmother's house would already be full, I began to panic.  There are no motels available in Oilville.  I laid out my problem to the Lord and asked Him to help our family be together for Christmas.  This time, His answer was swift.  My aunt found out and immediately offere her tiny cabin.  She was not going to be there and said we would be welcome to stay there.

So, we loaded up the presents, the dog, and even chopped down a fresh fir tree and crammed it in the car.  We drove the 600 miles to Oilville and stayed for two weeks.  The Wood Artist still had to work long hours, but we had him in the evenings and on Sabbaths, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

 We set up our little tree and strung popcorn and cranberries to decorate it.  The Wood Artist has a tradition of reading Christmas stories to us.  My dear Mother-in-Law always gets us the year's "Christmas In My Heart" book and we listen to the sweet, tear-inducing tales. 

Brother Schnicklefritz and Brother Military Police live and work there, too, and Brother Medic visited for Christmas, with my parents, so we had fun being with them and a bunch of cousins.

It seemed surreal, staying there in the tiny cabin that used to belong to my grandparents.  Memories came - That is where Grandma served her scalloped corn and lefse.  This is where Grandpa sat in his chair yelling, "Hurry up, so we can open presents!" in his North Dakota brogue.  That is where Uncle Dan always stood and said, "No, we should put away the presents and save them for next year!", in that unique and teasing voice.  That is where his teacup chihuahua was left outside in the North Dakota blizzard for a half hour when someone let him out to go potty.  The house was noisy and no one could hear his cries in the 50-below-zero windchill.  Poor Pete,  he was blue by the time someone found him.  But he was alive and he did recover.  The memories just keep coming!

Evenings were spent playing dominoes (a new family favorite) and teaching Papa how to play Moose Farkle, the game the kids and I learned to play on our summer camping trip.

 Mr. Blueberry Eyes got croup.  It seems, at nine, he should be too old for it, but he still gets it occasionally.  It hung on much longer than usual, perhaps due to the fact that I was away from my dispensary of all things natural and generally yucky!

Mr. Blueberry Eyes wanted nothing but horse stuff for Christmas.  He wants to decorate his room with horse puzzles, so he got a couple of those along with a lead rope, halter, grooming tools and good books on horses.  He has nearly $300 saved toward a horse and he is getting very excited.

Laughing Water got an extraordinary amount of lovely lotions, body sprays, and other grooming things a pre-teen could love.

I'm pretty sure I scored most, though!  My dearest bought me a latte maker!  It makes fabulous chai teas and wassails!  Laughing Water turned the earth upsidedown looking for a couple of things she knew I had wanted for a long time!  She found me the complete set of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman" and the complete series of "Christy".  She was, justly, very proud of herself.  (I know she had some help from Granny Flash.)  I'm a sucker for all things old fashioned.  The episodes I have watched so far have me hankering to pull out my sewing machine and start experimenting with costumes again.


Mostly, though, it wasn't about the gifts.  It really wasn't.  It was about celebrating togetherness.  It was about counting the 1,000 gifts....
*Peace in the heart
*Sparkles in the eyes of my daughter
*Thankfulness in the voice of my son
*Kissing chilly foreheads, lately come in from the outdoors
*Connecting heart to heart with a sister
*A warm house
*An Aunt, sharing what she has
*Snuggling a sleeping nephew
*Red cranberries
*White popped corn
*Running into a former student at church (now a couple of heads taller than I)
*Celebrating Life come down to Earth, setting us right with the Father

These, I will cling to in the face of the uncertainty life has us in right now.  I hope you are making your own list.  It helps.  It really does.  - Nanette