Christmas Vacation

Right after Becky and Joel's evening wedding dinner on Saturday December 20th, Stephen and I rushed home to change and then left to drive overnight to Colorado! After a long and busy day, it was probably not the best idea, and we don't ever want to do that again, but we wanted to get to Colorado in time to spend a majority of the Sunday with my family. Kirsten and Jeff were already there at my parent’s house with my niece and nephew and they were leaving for a missions trip to Cameroon on Christmas morning so we had to get as much time with them as possible!

It was a difficult drive and we were exhausted when we got to Colorado on Sunday afternoon. Our family decided to celebrate our Christmas Eve traditions (kumla supper and opening presents) the night before Christmas Eve and celebrate Christmas day traditions (opening stockings and turkey dinner) on Christmas Eve so that we wouldn't be rushed on Christmas morning when we had to get the Kirsten's family to the Denver airport.

Stephen and I had been very busy in December and hadn't really gotten any Christmas shopping done before we left, so we only had Monday to do everything! We had one of the most quick and effective Christmas shopping trips we have ever had! Somehow we found just the right gifts and had a lot of fun doing it!

The next day we had our traditional Christmas Eve kumla and ham for supper and opened presents afterwards. Then we woke up on Christmas Eve morning to open stockings and prepare Christmas dinner. The turkey dinner was so delicious! I am not a huge fan of turkey - to me its only an excuse to have everything else that comes with the turkey - stuffing, green beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, gravy, salad and pie! It's all so yummy! What a feast! Since it was still Christmas Eve, we went to the Christmas Eve service at dad's church that afternoon. It was a good service - singing the beautiful carols and glorifying God for His amazing gift of grace! We got home, did our annual Christmas family pictures and relaxed while Kirsten and Jeff and Olson and Kaelen did last minute packing for their trip to Africa.

They were going for several weeks. The missionaries were having a conference in Cameroon and Kirsten and Jeff were running children's programs for the missionary kids during the conference. My sisters and I spent years there as children and Jeff and Kirsten have been back twice since on missions trips, but Olson and Kaelen have never been there. Kirsten and Jeff were going to show Olson and Kaelen where we used to live and take them on safari at a game park. Then on their way back to the States, they would stop in Paris for a couple of days. My niece Kaelen would be in Paris for her birthday!

We took them to the airport the next morning on Christmas Day. We were so excited for their adventure ahead - especially for Olson and Kaelen! What a great experience for them! We got their bags checked in and saw them through security. They had 8 suitcases - 2 for them and the rest filled with gifts and supplies for missionary families in Cameroon and Chad. (Surprisingly all the suitcase except 2 made it with them to Africa. The other two bags arrived the next day so they weren't without them for long.) My parents and Stephen and I had our actual Christmas lunch at the food court of the Denver airport.

The rest of our 2 week vacation was spent relaxing, eating, shopping and visiting! We had a great time in Loveland with Mom and Dad and Teresa! The weather was beautiful and warm for most of the time. We drove to Estes Park into the Rocky Mountain National Park one day. Another day, we made the drive to Wyoming to visit my sister Melinda and her husband Cody! It was great to see them! On the way out there, we took a scenic route through the Rockies. We celebrated New Years Eve with home made ginger beef, cream cheese won tons (my favourite!) and a puzzle. And then on New Years morning, we've made it a tradition to watch the Rose Parade. On our last day in Colorado my parents took Stephen and I to tour the Red Rocks near Denver. There is a natural amphitheatre in the Red Rocks Park and they thought we would appreciate it. It's just beautiful there. They hold a lot of concerts in the amphitheatre, which overlook Denver in the distance. After we toured there, we went to visit my uncle and aunt on my mom's side, Ivan and Barb! They are so fun, we love to see them and we love to visit them when we're in Colorado.

Our drive home was good - we did run into some bad roads but it was easier because it wasn't overnight! All in all a great trip! It was sad to leave (I live way too far away from my family) but we were looking forward to get home to our friends and family here!