So, a Holiday recap: Thanksgiving was very different for me this year. It was the first time I've spent any major holiday that I can recall away from my family and Ramsey's family since I've met them. Well, his dad was here but his sister's and mom were not due to bad road conditions. So it ended up being me, myself and I, with six men. SIX MEN. I was very much expecting to be all by my lonesome in the kitchen that day but just about everyone pitched in here or there. It was wonderful. I cooked my first Thanksgiving meal including desserts and appetizers. I was happy with just about everything. We have come to a final conclusion though, forget that fancy stuffing, us Pruchnic's just like the boxed stuff.
The month of December zoomed by and it felt great to have Riley on Christmas break. Ramsey only had one day left of vacation time for the year and so to us going back to Spokane wasn't an option to weigh. However, he did have a four day weekend for Christmas and New Year's creating a short 3 day week in between. On Tuesday the 21st Ramsey's boss informed him he'd only need to be available by computer those three days. Ramsey mentioned all of this non-challantly in a late night car ride home from the ferry docks, just gently stating he wished he had known earlier so that we could have maybe gone home for the Holidays. Oh well.
Fast forward to Wednesday sometime in the am and God gets my wheels turning. He brings to mind in picture form the idea of going home for Christmas and the pure happiness it would bring everyone, especially the Grandmas and our two little boys. I ask Ramsey what he thinks and of course he says its up to me. But neither of us really felt like it, it would require a lot of work and I'd have no time to prepare and everyone already shipped their Christmas presents to our house. And this would be the first Christmas not having to be here there and everywhere. Something we'd wanted for a long time. Then I thought once again of my mother's face and Ramsey's mother's face upon seeing their sweet little grand boys arriving as an early Christmas present on their doorstep. That settled it. And it had to be a surprise too. By that evening we had chalked up a plan, invited our dear friend Jon along and told the boys. They were ecstatic! Come Thursday afternoon I had Jon's car packed to the brim with bags, car seats and wrapped Christmas presents. I was determined to bring every single present there, bows and ribbon still intact. Which I can proudly say happened, everything looked great. I should have got a picture of that car. You couldn't have fit much more in it, and praise the Lord my dog fits in my lap.
Thursday the 22nd at around 9 p.m. we pulled into Medical Lake, Wa, grabbed a quick boquet of flowers and headed to Ramsey's mom's house. The boys rang the doorbell with flowers in hand. I wish I could describe to you the look on her face. It was priceless. She had gone from seeing those boys almost daily to a five month stretch with out them. It felt so good to everyone's hearts to be together again. We stayed the night and all laughed together and the boys were very much at home at Grandma's house. The next morning we headed to my mom's house and got to do it all over again. She kept saying she couldn't believe we were there. It was so nice to be. We were blessed to stay with our families back in Spokane for an entire week. A few highlights were: Visiting our beloved old church for their Christmas service, watching Holiday Inn with my mom and sister, everyone's faces upon seeing us, seeing old friends, and of course playing Michael Jackson's dancing game with my sister-in-laws on our new Wii, pretty much every chance we got.
I was worried going back home to Poulsbo, Wa that it wouldn't feel like returning home, but leaving home to go back to an empty house in a strange town. Although we instantly missed everyone, it did feel like home to walk through our red front door and be just the five of us (five of course including our beloved Yorkie King Louie). Thank you Jesus.
Moving away from all of our family really in some senses was like us leaving home for the first time. It felt like a big kid step, it's had ups and downs and was exciting and scary all at once. New Year's weekend was spent quietly, relaxing and enjoying our new Christmas presents. The five of us rang in the New Year with Sparkling Grape Juice, Raegan and the dog passed out on the couch, one tired little five-year-old determined to make it to Midnight and a wife and husband, happy to be a family in their own home, in their own little town.
As of now, if you're still reading this longggg post, things have gone back to normal now. The Holidays have come and gone yet again, Riley is back in school and Ramsey back at work. But it does feel a bit different though, simply in having peace about our move across the state, and having had the chance to squeeze our loved ones once more. I hope to be back to writing again, I have missed it. See you soon.
