The Ghost of Christmas Past

Christmas has come and gone, and with it, the joy of trying to find gifts for everyone and making plans to accommodate family and friends near and not-so-near.

Our Christmas festivities officially began on Christmas Eve Eve, when we got together with our friends Noah and Cherry to exchange gifts and to watch "The Rocketeer" - a movie that neither Gretch nor Cherry had seen. We made a bunch of chocolate chip cookies for them, and also got a framed print of the first picture we had with Noah and Cherry in Illinois, taken at Jimmy John's. I will refrain from sharing the picture online, if only because I don't know if they want it publicly shared or not (even though Gretch and I agree it is an adorable picture of the two of them!) They gave us a grey and maroon American Eagle hoodie, a nightlight of the Leg Lamp from "A Christmas Story" and a vintage Snoopy Christmas mug from 1958:


On Christmas Eve, we headed over to Gretch's family's where we had a wonderful time with them, as well as Miriam (one of Gretch's mother's best friends), the two sisters serving full-time missions for our church in this area, and a young woman named Kimberly who has been coming to church recently and is getting baptised on January 1. There was a large quantity of tasty food, fun times, and, after the Regers returned from attending a Christmas Eve service with Miriam at her church, the opening of family gifts.

Gretch and I received a bountiful harvest of movies that we had put on our Wish List, as well as many other wonderful gifts, including, but not limited to, socks, boots (for Gretch), some art-themed books, an awesome t-shirt for Surviving the World (one of my favourite web comics), and some Snoopy-themed items, including a lunch tin, pajama pants, and two books. Gretch got me a 5.5 quart saucepan and a copy of John Grisham's "Ford County", and I got her two small sketch books. (Her other gifts were being saved for Christmas morning.) For Gretch's family, we made a holder for William's many native flutes, a holder for Kalina's art pens, pencils, and markers, and a holder for Jonas's nunchaku for Tae Kwon Do. We also found a sushi-making kit for Mary. After taking home a plate of snacks, we bid her family a good evening and went home to sort through the gifts we had received:


Early on Christmas morning, we went by the Regers' to open stockings and see what gladsome tidings had come by way of the old, fat, jolly man with a beard. Yes, Santa still brings gifts to the Reger home. I also snatched a picture of their Christmas tree, to make sure that it could be saved for posterity (there were grumblings that the cameras available were not capturing the tree as some would have desired). There were more movies, more Snoopy things, and other fun things, like iTunes gift cards and delicious Tim Tams.




Having already packed our bags and loaded the car, we bid the Regers farewell again and hit the road for Washington, where we would be spending the next several days with my parents and baby sister. Along the way, we had a minor mishap which resulted in our car off the side of the road in a ditch. Fortunately, the good folks with the State Police were able to direct us to a towing company that sent a guy out quickly (only about fifteen minutes of waiting) to pull us out and get us back on the road. This was one of those times when I was immensely grateful for many things: emergency roadside assistance with our insurance, prayers for safe travels, and the good fortune to make it off the bridge we were on before going off-road. This delayed our arrival in Washington by about an hour but everyone was much happier that we made it safely, rather than not at all.

We opened gifts with my parents and sister, and spent the morning and after playing on her PlayStation 3 and watching TV. It was nice and relaxed and a lot of fun. We headed over to my brother Aaron's place for Christmas dinner with him and his family, where we had a delicious roast with potatoes, carrots, and rolls. We opened gifts with them, as well, and had a pleasant evening talking and sharing one another's company. We received some very nice gifts from my family, including a neck pillow for Gretch, a Snoopy book, a couple of teacher-themed letter openers, some gift cards, and a Utahraptor tie from Dinosaur Comics (another favourite web comic) for me.


We gave Ariana a new sketch book, along with several juvenile literature books that were duplicates from our library. We gave my parents several of their old home videos, along with a promise to create a family tree for them showing their parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. For Aaron and Megan, we gave them an awesome gingerbread house cookie jar loaded up with the cookies we had been baking on Christmas Eve morning. Aaron and Megan's kids got us a fleece blanket that goes perfectly with our couch, and we got a box of Russell Stover chocolates from my oldest brother and his family.

The day after Christmas was Sunday, so Gretch and I went to church with my parents, then spent the rest of the afternoon doing what we had done on Christmas Day: PS3 and watching TV and movies. We also set up my parents Netflix account through the PS3 and helped them discover the wonders of online movies and TV shows. Later in the evening I got together with Kramer and Brett, two of my buddies from high school. We spent the evening chilling and chatting while Gretch hung out with my mom and sister.

The next couple days were more of the same: hanging out with Ariana, Mum, and Dad, watching TV shows, and playing games on the PS3, including the PlayStation Move Sports Champion game and Band Hero, which is the latest iteration of the Guitar Hero line. We had a wonderful time in Washington, and came back home Wednesday afternoon, after having lunch with Kramer and Chuck, another high school buddy. The drive home was blessedly uneventful, and thus our Christmas holidays ended. This is definitely a Christmas to be remembered by the Ghost of Christmas Past for showing love and affection and friendship despite difficult times.

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