Christmas Week

I liked Christmas falling on a Wednesday this year. It made it easier to do some things before the actual holiday. However this year, instead of doing more holiday activities the day before Christmas Eve, we went a few hours up north to go skiing/snowboarding. We had been planning on going the day or two after Christmas, but since Victoria was scheduled to work then and the entire state of Michigan was to get rain, we opted for the 23rd, when it would snow.

That meant leaving a few hours after church on Sunday, missing the caroling activity, to drive the 31/2 hours up to Crystal Mountain. Luckily, Jason, Austin, and Erik had caroled with the youth in the Stake 2 weeks earlier and Jason, Austin, and I got to sing in the ward choir for 2 Sunday performances, so we got in some good Christmas music. I felt fulfilled by my visits to friends and neighbors throughout the week leading up so I could let go of the tradition of singing carols at the retirement home this year.

We arrived at our hotel Sunday night and passed the brightly lit Crystal Mountain there. Since it's near Traverse City, which does have some inclines and hills, I think Crystal Mountain is a legit hilly area and not a reclaimed landfill.

The day of skiing/snowboarding was a success! We enjoyed the new experience at this ski resort. Kade tried snowboarding for the first time and did extremely well. Jason and Victoria hadn't skied for a few years and picked it up where they left off, though Victoria had to be careful on her still-healing sprained ankle. Austin looked fantastic on his snowboard and managed not to break any bones this time. Erik really surprised me with his ski skills, going in and out of paths through trees on black diamond courses with Austin. That last time we went when Austin and I had to leave early due to his broken arm, Erik really got a lot of practice in the rest of the day! I felt decent on my skis, though since I own mine, I need to get them waxed because when the slopes evened out, I would stop moving. 

New coats!

Kade finishing a practice run on his snowboard.

Jason finishing a practice run.

Everyone was behind me on the lift.

Kade was super tired!

Towards the end of the day, Kade did have a final fall (he fell a few times that hurt some of his extremities) that hurt his head, so we took him to the medic to see about a concussion. His eyes weren't dilated, but he had a headache and was a little light-headed. Austin and Erik were still going down the slopes when the rest of us were at the medic with Kade. They agreed that we could leave 30 minutes earlier than we had planned. It was good we did since the snow that had been falling all day kept falling and the roads got worse and worse. The defrost in our Explorer was having issues, which added extra stress to our drive. The 3 1/2 hours took 7 hours and we got home close to midnight. We try not to think about that!

So, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were very restful. Kade still had a headache, but we went to the Remingtons for Christmas Eve dinner and to act out the Nativity. We opened our Secret Santa gifts when we returned home, as well as our matching pj bottoms, which I have never actually done, but really enjoyed doing this year. 

Another family and Angelisa and Erin joined us as well.

Austin and Erik were wisemen.

New pjs and our secret Santa gifts!

On Christmas, we slept in a bit longer than in previous years, opened stockings and gifts, played games, talked to family, and had the missionaries over for Christmas Puerto Rican food. We ended the day watching A Christmas Story. 

First thing!

Luke liked his canned food.

New shoes!

Erik got a Nintendo Switch!

Kade got some 90s rock CDS!

Austin got some sweatshirts.

Getting ready for a mission!

Varsity jacket!

It did rain the next few days, so we're glad we went on our ski trip when we did and we have now fully recovered and enjoyed a quiet Christmas.