Christmas and New Year's with Family

It seems like we are just now catching up from a busy and fun Christmas holidays.

We went down to see Heather's parents for Christmas and Janene and Ryan were able to be there too. That was a lot of fun because it'd been a long time since the kids had seen their uncle Ryan. The cousins played and Heather and her mom and sister laughed and visited. Heather's family is the origin of our Christmas Eve tradition of nachos and banana slush, and we also enjoyed a big turkey dinner and sugar cookies made by Janene. One day, Grandma took us to the school and we were able to play in the gym and work out (that's, 'played' for the kids) on the exercise equipment.

It was neat to watch the cousins open their presents on Christmas morning and we were all relieved that Santa was able to find us even though we were away from home. Tyson liked the toys he got but he was absolutely thrilled about the candy he got in his stocking.



We didn't go on a sleigh ride, or roast any chestnuts like I had pictured; but, there was still something about the small town and the cozy house packed with family that made the Holiday special. It was the closest thing to the 'Little House on the Prairie' type of Christmas that you read about and I'm glad that we went down.






Martinellis in a snow drift, dreaming of New Years.



Next we found ourselves at Kendall and Jewel's house. It was really nice to get together with my sisters and their families. There was less quarrelling between Ava and I than usual, and almost no quarrelling between Jewel and I.




The food was my favorite part. The meals were amazing and everyone helped with the preparation. Each family contributed to the New Years Eve spread and there was a smorgasbord of different dishes and snackies. My personal favorite (besides Heather's meatballs and buffalo chicken wings, of course) was Kendall's homemade sushi!




During our time there, we had not one, but two chocolate cakes. The first was delicious with whip cream and strawberries but, on Ava's advice, I had a slice of the second "Rausch style". Jewel has obviously taught her girls to have chocolate cake in a bowl with milk poured over it, just like we were taught when we were kids.




Jewel played some home movies from our time together last year. It was striking just how much things have changed in our family from last Christmas to this. On everyone's mind was the fact that dad was missing. Dad was there for my first 30 Christmases - more than anyone else in the world. Strangely, it just occurred to me that next year will make Jewel my new most longstanding Christmas companion, beating out Tanis by a year and Crystal by two. Fortunately, the sadness of Dad's absence was overshadowed by the joy of having baby Jessica and baby Dane added to the family.

Chaim was just a baby in the video and already he is a little man with his own personality and an impeccable taste in uncles. Jeremy and Crystal are expecting again, so there will be at least one new family member for the countdown to 2009 next year. I almost didn't recognize Tyson, and all of the cousins have grown up so much in just a year's time. The back drop of the video was Kendall and Jewel's old condo but this year we were enjoying each other's company in the comfort of their beautiful new home (which I've nicknamed "The Manor"). Kendall and John both have new jobs and their families have settled into life in a great town.

At one point in the video, the camera panned over and captured dad sitting back from everyone with his cheek resting on his hand. His eyes were moist and he had a peaceful smile on his face as he watched everyone playing and visting. It was easy for me to imagine that somewhere dad was still sitting back, with that smile on his face, watching his family as we enjoyed each others' company.

In closing, I need to recognize that despite the ups and downs, 2007 was the best year of my life, and it is all because of one person. Since Heather and I were married in 2000, each year has been my new best year and I look forward to all the years we will spend together. I look forward to when our Christmases together will be numbered like grains of sand instead of just measured in decades.




To all of our family and friend's, our prayers are that you will be blessed in the New Year.


- C