Christmas Holilday 2020

Christmas Eve Day we delivered the hot chocolate and cookies for the Christmas Eve service but we didn't stay; we were heading to Lake City to spend Christmas with family. We got to Lance's house by 5. We visited with Marla, Lance and their son Liam for about 15 minutes when a heavy rain started and suddenly there was a loud BANG and all the lights went out! We could still see fine because earlier Marla had fill the rooms with scented candles and strings of tiny battery-powered lights. So everything had a lovely glow.

Lance went outside to check on the trees and on the chicken which was already on the grill. Trees were down, chicken was cooking. Nothing much to do but drink Cinnamon Fireball and eat chips with Ken Ranch dressing - great! In spite of the rain Lance and Randy continued to check on the chicken and soon it was done. 

Good, I needed to eat something besides chips to soak up that Fireball. Grilled chicken and grilled asparagus, with Stouffer’s mac and cheese did the job nicely. After dinner Lance and Marla taught us to play Uno Attack. There are a lot of rules but Liam, at 7 years old, is already an expert. And as soon as Liam yelled “Uno” to end the first game, the lights came back on! 

Four long hands later, it was time to call Santa, who knew all about Liam’s wish list and school concerns. Santa always knows. After that Randy and I were ready to call it a day so we left Marla and Liam to bake cookies for Santa while we went to bed. Lance has renovated the guest bedroom in an English theme with signed prints, Royal wedding commemorative cups, and a big English flag.

In the morning Marla's mom Gail, daughter Jordan, and Jordan's friend Rachel joined us for a breakfast of waffles and bacon, followed by opening gifts. 

Liam was such a sweetie - he had wrapped up his money as a present to his mommy. Fortunately he cleaned up with gifts of more money, a Les Paul guitar, a telescope, and (from Uncle Randy) his first gun. 

Next Marla and Randy spent time in the kitchen cooking prime rib, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, fresh rolls, and cheesecake with apple topping.  Lunch was in the early afternoon and everything was so good that we ate enough to last the rest of the day!

So we relaxed and visited until the evening when we chucked all the good vibes out by watching “Greenland”, a dramatic film about a near apocalyptic event. Ah well, I slept great anyway. And the next morning we headed home.