A December to Remember

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The space between Thanksgiving and Christmas is an interesting span of time.  Sometimes the kids have a little more time on their hands, while it seems only to pile on heavier for parents as they juggle the usual work and parenting loads along with all things Christmas (activities to attend, "things" to brainstorm,  surprises to plan and rituals to implement).  Squeezing in a game of Headbands??  Always a good idea. 

We started the virtual school year with lofty goals of collared shirts still required, shoes on, sitting up straight at a table for school work.  Now?  If the puppy "needs" to be used as a pillow, so be it!  I still spy a collared shirt:-)  

Dody and Granddaddy returned for a brief Christmas visit and made lots of progress on the NYC (RIP) puzzle before the Olivet Nativity!

And while all good things must come to an end, I wasn't prepared for the annual cranberry margaritas with my FHRENS to end for reasons other than COVID.  It's apparently just.too.hard. to get together anymore with jobs, second home renovations, surgeries (parent and child), households reduced to one car, etc.:-(  Too bad I was already prepared. 

A dear member of Olivet made this nearly life-size nativity for all to enjoy during this crazy time that the beautifully decorated sanctuary is closed, except by appointment only. 

The staff-lead "Drive-Thru Nativity" was an incredible journey through Bethlehem...a lovely substitute for our usual visit to "Bethlehem Village" in Afton.  The script was beautifully written.  The staff stayed in character with their friends and congregants remarkably well in spite of the frigid temps.  Several hundred people drove through the stations to enjoy the retelling of the Christmas story in touching fashion.  A new tradition or an exhausting COVID one-and-done??  Who knows, but it was incredibly well done and an amazing gift to our community. 

And then, it was early Christmas-------Dody sauce from Williamsburg!!!!

...and festive hairbows:-)

...and silly faces...

Not a fair capture of Granddaddy's involvement at the time (as we relived their early-career days), it may be the only picture I got of him as Dody and Margaret enjoyed the "yearbook". 

The first-day-of-school-break called for Grandma's clever Gingerbread Houses, decorating via Zoom (so Mom could work!).  The pop-tart houses she kindly delivered to Michael in Arlington were brilliant since we couldn't be with her. 

Among it all, regular life continues.  Haircuts in the garage....

....and "conveniently" scheduled 2-day swim meets just far enough away that we can drive back and forth each day so Mom could spend the extra hours "doing Christmas" instead of lounging in a hotel room.

Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA----a beautiful facility in a COVID-safe environment, requiring ALL parents on duty to keep kids apart, to be on bathroom security, and countless other COVID-demanded responsibilities...worth it to see their hard work pay off with time drops in 8 events each! 

My co-volunteer told me today was my day to commit a crime---that this bathroom referee (who only wanted to break the rules to use the athlete-only bathroom herself!) would never be picked out in a line-up! 

This kid swam lights out the first day and for the first time since he was, oh, 5 years old, he napped all the way home. 

Things that didn't happen this fall, thanks to the COVID:

The military academy that we will not visit this year??

No games with Uncle Mark or Lane Stadium cuddles with Mom:-(

 

But here's to the prayer that they can return to camp this summer....Matthew included!  By the grace of God, somehow the Summer's Best Two Weeks and Greystone schedules overlap by 5 days this summer AND Matthew is FINALLY eligible to attend!  

So if the world is able to return to any semblance of normalcy, we may be able to reschedule part of our 15th anniversary trip.  While we'd like to be optimistic, it seems entirely too early to have much hope in that.  But we shall see - when was the last time that WE were promised that WE were in control?!?

A blast from the past---who knew that exactly 10 years later, what we would celebrate on Dec. 17th would be Michael's Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination!