Merry Christmas to us all! It has been wild getting here, but finally we’re all together to celebrate!
All of us were flying to Washington via Denver on the 21st. Two families made it, but one had their flight cancelled. The next few days were crazy trying to get everyone together but finally on the 25th they made it! Too bad none of their luggage did. And no sooner did they show up than my brother Jon, the pilot, get an emergency call-in to fly some passengers to Los Angeles. Now on the 26th we are finally together to celebrate! The kids were all so patient waiting until 2pm on the 26th to have Santa come and open presents.
Made it to Denver! Coming from Florida, there weren't many other people wearing shorts...
It's Gram! Pop Pop is somewhere around here. There's us, Gram and Pop Pop, plus Pat Megan and Avery trying to fly out of Denver tonight, all on different flights. Pat and Megan had a very late flight and couldn't check their bags in before 6:30pm, so they couldn't come join us waiting in the terminal.
And that last headline, about flights being cancelled was unfortunately about to be realized for us. While we were waiting to take off, Patrick sent a text letting us know their flight got cancelled. It was heartbreaking. With all the cancellations, the soonest they could get to Washington was 4 days later, on Christmas Day. Their daughter Avery was understandably devastated, driving back to their home in Colorado when she should have been going to Washington with everyone else. Oh, and their luggage that they checked is "in the system" now, so they didn't get to take their Christmas Presents that they packed home with them.
Well that was a big bummer. We were still super excited to see Uncle Jon at the airport.
It's cold here!
Aunt Jess had Grandma's Spiced Tea on the stove waiting for us.
Ooh, and fresh bread from the oven. Jess you're so good to us.
That cold front that moved in had freezing rain that stuck to everything and froze into ice. The kids skated across the back deck, pulling huge sheets of ice off everything.
The grass was crunchy.
Each blade has a sheath of ice around it.
Finally on the 25th the rest of the family arrived! Pat, Megan and Avery are here!
Everything is frozen! Including the rugs. Hit it with a hammer and it's solid.
Ian and Alli pulled off sheets of ice and did some karate chops on them.
But no sooner did they arrive than my brother Jon, the pilot, had to leave on a short notice flight to take some people down to Los Angeles. He was supposed to be off work! But he gave up time with his family to ferry 180 passengers down to Los Angeles to be with their families.
A delayed but Merry Christmas to us all!
Quite the experience trying to fly out with the Arctic Blast causing such havoc across much of the US. Very fortunate that Patrick, Megan, & Avery made it on the 25th, while your family just made it under the wire before the cancellations really piled up!...then Jon's unexpected "detour". After much anticipation, you all finally got to be together for the big Christmas celebration...no matter the calendar day, it was Christmas Day once everyone was there! Such a fun, crazy time opening the gifts and checking the surprises in the stockings. Merry Christmas!! P.S. Looks like Ian is the "karate ice man" champion :-) EOM
ReplyDeleteWishing you all a Merry Christmas from Washington! 🎄 So grateful to be together and share the joy of the season. Happy holidays to everyone!
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