We had a pretty good holiday together up in McCall. Kris, Stef, Shelby and Amanda headed up on Wednesday. Then I worked Wednesday night, and Hailey, Brooke and I headed up Thursday morning. I don't know why we did it that way, and I will not do it that way ever again. Kris said a few times, "I can wait for you, and we could all go together." But I halfheartedly said, "No go", and he didn't protest overmuch and decided to leave. I was tired and the weather was snowy... so it was a bad combo to start out with but then.... after Ontario I decided to go to a friends house in Emmett and deliver a gift and some forms that were important. By the time we made it to Emmett it was blizzardy and I was committed to that route and really couldn't turn back. The drive from Emmett to the main road that carries one up to McCall was perilous. I know that I tend to exaggerate a bit but in this case it was a really scary drive. The road is one lane each direction and winds around the river. It has huge drop offs and the road was not plowed. Visibility was sketchy, the way was slick and really you just had to keep going. I was tired and a bit teary and pretty spent. That stretch was 20 miles and it easily took an hour. Then there were about 80 miles to McCall. 40 of those were about the same as the other 20 only the road was clearer and 2 lanes in each direction for a while. The last 30-40 miles was ok. I really prayed that we would be protected on that drive. I did most of the driving because I am the most experienced driver and couldn't really let the new driver or Hailey have that responsability. Anyway, thankfully we arrived safely. The rest of the crew had settled in and done some shopping and our condo was warm and we built a fire. We read the Christmas story and watched Hallmark movies.
Christmas day we went to our favorite hot springs. It is about an hour away from McCall and is super neat. It has 3 or 4 levels of varying hot ness. The kids went up and down the levels and Kris and I stayed in the really hot part. Hailey wore sandals and a dress to the party. She was looking pretty funny in the snow in her sandals. I don't know how she survived being that cold. You can't take Hawaii out of the girl I guess. Kris, Stef, Brooke and Hailey drove on to Boise to pick up Glen and I took the other girls to Star Wars. So Christmas night we watched, Star Wars, The Force Awakens. It was REALLY good and I enjoyed it immensely. Except one part... which made me sad, mad disappointed. I won't tell you which part because I would spoil the movie for you. But it was a real bummer.
The next day we slept in and then decided to go ice skating. Ice skating seemed like a nice compromise... not as expensive or involved as skiing but a fun family activity nonetheless. So we all ice skated. I used hockey skates ... not on purpose. They don't wear like figure skates and I took 2 very hard tumbles. I bruised my knees on both sides. Amanda fell on her left wrist and we were worried for a while that she had broken the bone.. but it appears to be just a bruise/sprain. We took a lot of pictures and then we went to the Toll Station and had pizza together.
Sunday we just rested and relaxed and prepared to go home. Stef and Glen drove off to his family gathering and then to get her moved to her new destination. I like that he flew in to be with us mostly to help his fiance drive. That is a pretty great quality to have (worrying about your future spouse driving). I pointed out to Kris that this would be a nice quality to acquire. He agreed to work on that, although in his defense he never imagined I would detour off onto rarely used roads.
We all caravaned back home and arrived last night, safely.... I might add. I always marvel at the amount of times we travel and have safety. I need to be more thankful for that. We travel SO MUCH. And we have always been so blessed in our travels. I am quick to pray for help in our travels but slow to acknowledge the help that is always given to us. Maybe we won't always be so lucky... But I am so happy when a trip happens and we come home in one piece.. yet again.
I never sleep right until I know that we have all made it back home. We still have a few travelers that will head back to college over the new year weekend. And they won't all ever be back in my home as permanent residents ever again. But it still feels normal to worry. I feel as if when I worry I'm somehow putting my energy into protecting them.
This is my last post of 2015. 2015 was my 25th year of being married. My 22nd year of being a parent and my 22nd year of being an RN. It is my 18th year of living in our small town. My 45th year of living on the earth.
All in all .. It was a pretty good year.
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