Christmas 2013

Christmas 2013 was long-anticipated...all the Finch girls and their families converged in Dalhart!  It was particularly special for two reasons: first, it was the first Christmas in three years that we were with any blood family since we've been in California and second, it was my nephews', Brock and Kellen's, first Christmas!

We had planned on leaving Mount Hope on Sunday, but with the ice/snowstorm that hit on Friday in Dalhart and on Saturday in Kansas, we opted to wait until Monday morning to go.  Staci and Glenn flew in on Sunday evening, but opted to stay in Amarillo overnight and drive up on Monday morning. Elizabeth, Russell, Madison, Mallory, Camden and the twins drove the last leg of their journey on Monday as well.

We spend Monday playing with the twins, chatting, playing the snow, making snowballs in anticipation of snowball fight, getting extra gifts wrapped and prepping food for the next couple of days.  Tuesday was a beautiful day - warm enough to melt some snow and for the kids to have some significant snowball fights, but cold enough for a beautiful fire that evening.

Christmas Eve followed tradition with us all dressed in our Christmas finest, ready to honor Christ with our gift-giving.  Before exchanging gifts we did family pictures, complete with one of our entire crew thanks to Nick the neighbor whom Grandad had asked to come over. We also had our traditional toast, starting with Grandad who, along with the rest of us, had trouble finding words to describe how he felt with us all there together.  Although it was wonderful to spend Christmas with family, I couldn't let the evening go by without toasting all those in Fresno who were family to us over the past 3 years - the Sanborn's, Broaddus', Culy's, Segovia's, Leonard's...among others!

 
We enjoyed a wonderful pork loin and some smoked turkey for supper, along with veggie, fruit and cheese trays, various dips and treats including mini pecan pies, carrot cake and different candies for dessert.  In lieu of the Christmas story Granded shared a commentary about the shepherds that a friend of his had shared at church the past Sunday.  Next, the kids played Santa to distribute the gifts, and we enjoyed watching each other open packages.  Christmas at the ranch is always fun, and having the twins there crawling and toddling around made it even more special.  Kudos to Elizabeth and her family for all they had to do and haul to Dalhart!

The next morning we were all glad to see that Santa had come - even though we all forgot to leave him cookies and milk! The Niemann boys were overjoyed to see a new Little Tykes goal sitting by the stockings - yes, the 14 and 12-year old NIEMANN boys, not the 11-month old MAYBIN boys...:).  Madden 25 for XBox was another nice surprise, and Hillary was happy to see a Barbie lego ice cream shop to go with her lego city. We enjoyed an egg casserole, fruit, various breads and a jalepeno cheese biscuit ring for breakfast, and a late Christmas meal of brisket, spiral sliced ham, potatoes, green beans, green salad, jello and of course, Nana's famous rolls.  The weather was nice enough for an afternoon stroll, and the night couldn't end without Grandad and the kids' game of Tripoly followed by the traditional Liver Pool Rummy!

Staci and Glenn had an early flight out on the 26th, but the rest of us enjoyed a fairly lazy day just being together and attempting to get all our stuff together! John, Peyton & Trace helped Grandad feed in the afternoon; Nana, Elizabeth, Madison, Hillary and I went to town to shop; Russell & Cam held down the fort with the twins and Mallory napped to try and stave off her fever and cold. While in town we went by Mimi's old house and enjoyed a tour by the new owners, who have done a fabulous job of remodeling and updating the  home.  It was such a pleasant surprise to see how much love and care they have and are putting into it.  Shopping was short-lived, however, because so many stores were not open. So we settled with browsing at Beall's & Dollar General before picking up treats at Sonic and pizza at Mazzio's to bring home to the crew. We ended the day with another game of Tripoly before heading to bed.

The next morning the Niemann's loaded up after breakfast and hit the road for Kansas after being entertained by the fabulous "movies" the kids had put together with video from the past few days.  Although Grandad didn't get Niemann help on loading and moving panels, it wasn't for lack of trying!  It just didn't fit into Grandad's schedule to do it before leaving...so Peyton promised some fence building help the next time we are there!  The Maybin's began their packing and loading shortly after, planning to make it to Abilene for the night.

A GREAT Christmas that lived up to all the excitement and anticipation. Merry Christmas to the Finch/Niemann/Maybin/Thompson families!