Christmas in Spokane

Okay... so I know by now most of you are sick of hearing about Christmas! But because this is basically an online journal for me, (it is really the only way I have found motivation to keep a journal) I have to record the events from our Christmas in Spokane!

As most of you know, it was a very snowy Christmas! I wished for a white Christmas, and I certainly got one (I guess it is true when they say "you better be careful what you wish for"). We arrived to 3 feet of snow and it snowed 7 out of the 8 days we were there. I learned for the first time what "racking your roof" meant. I am not really sure how I survived 5 years in Utah and never learned about the art of racking your roof, but this winter I finally got my chance!

Many homes and business experienced their roofs collapse under the weight of all the snow. Cars were buried in mounds of snow from the plows trying to keep the roads clear. People would abandon their stuck cars in the middle of the street. It was crazy! We spent alot of time snow blowing, shoveling, and racking. Dave went out with his Dad to work and help friends with their many snow dilemmas! Everyday I tried to talk people into building an igloo with me, have a snow ball fight, or even go sledding... but most time everyone else was so sick of being in the snow, the last thing they wanted to do was play in the snow! I did get a few runs down a hill in a sled while I was there, which was wonderful!

We stayed with Dave's sister, Amber, and her family. It was fun to experience Christmas with their two little ones. Abby is about 2 1/2 years old and so this was really the first Christmas that she had a clear understanding of what was going on. I asked her when we arrived what she wanted for Christmas and she promptly told me... "a kitty, books, and candy". I love the simplicity of the list and the candy part just made me laugh. On Christmas eve Dave and John (our brother-in-law) went to go pick up the kitten from a friend who had been keeping it for a week till Christmas rolled around!

That evening we had to keep the kitten downstairs in the basement with us and keep it quite so that Abby wouldn't hear it. It was quit the task to keep a kitten in a new house quite! Not to mention that I am terribly allergic to cats! But the best and most entertaining part was when we had to attempt to wrap the cat in a box before Abby came out to see what Santa had given her. Luckily I had my camera near by and I was able to capture a few images of the entertaining experience of wrapping a cat in a box! The first problem was that we only had scotch tape to keep the box closed, so the cat kept breaking the tape and attempting to get out. The second problem was that, for obvious reasons, it would not stay quite in the box! After we put the box upstairs, Abby came out to see her presents. The second the kitten made noise, her eye got big! She seemed almost a little in shock and was completely apprehensive to open the present up. I guess she was worried about exactly just what was in the box and making all that noise! Being there with young children seemed to give Christmas that magical feeling again!

That evening several of Dave's other family members came over and we enjoyed visiting and unwrapping presents together. This Christmas was the largest turn out of Dave's Family that was able to make it back home for Christmas at the same time! I believe there were 13 out of the 18 siblings, 11 spouses, 2 grandparents, and roughly 17 grandkids (if my numbers are right... it is hard to count that many people)! As you can imagine, anything with that many family members around is bound to be eventful! It was a wonderful Christmas and great opportunity to see family that we have not seen in a while. That is one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is simply being surrounded by so many friends and family.