Christmas

Chris took a couple weeks off for the holidays, so we packed up and headed across the mountains for Christmas with my family. Sandra and Hal invited us over for a fantastic Christmas Eve meal at their house, and the little ones got to open a few gifts. We had a nice time.

We returned to my grandparents' house and (long story short) I ended up calling 911 for Grandpa a few hours later. He was transported to the hospital and I followed, along with my grandma, aunt and uncle, and cousin. (We're kind of an army when it comes to stuff like this. We definitely stick together.) I admit, I had a hard time leaving my husband and kids on Christmas Eve. Holidays together are so rare. But I had to pick, and I picked my grandpa.

After hours in the ER, Grandpa ended up being admitted. Grandma, my mom and I stuck around long enough to see him get settled in, and eventually we were back at the house at 4am.

Christmas didn't feel like Christmas at all. People were in and out of the house, taking turns at the hospital, while a handful of us were trying our best to put everything together back at the house. Grandma's one request: the day must go as planned, and we did what we could to make sure that happened.

So we ate (the meal was fantastic), and then we watched my annual Christmas slideshow on the DVD player. We opened gifts and stockings. Owen made everyone laugh, because every time he opened a gift he exclaimed "Thank you! I love it!" He and I had worked on that line for a couple of days and I was so proud of him for being polite about receiving gifts.

The house felt empty despite being full of people. I was sad that Grandpa wasn't with us, but I felt good knowing that he was receiving some much-needed care. And I was thankful that so many relatives were in town to help.

That evening, we packed up and headed home, for we still had more Christmas to celebrate.