Happy New Year

These say it better than I can:

Ice, Snow and Cold

Everyone told us that the weather in Kansas City had been unseasonably warm and we were glad to hear it.  Of course, we were still cold, because anything below 50 degrees seems cold to us.  There's just no escaping the fact that after living in Central America for 5+ years, we just can't handle the cold.

We finally went to see the new Star Wars movie with Steve and Terisa last Sunday night. When we got back to their house, the "winter storm" watch was all over the news.  Unfortunately, they didn't miss the forecast this time.  It started overnight with a mix of rain and sleet.  Luckily, Stephen found a way to park a car in the garage so that I didn't have to scrape off ice before going to my 8:30 a.m. doctor's appointment.  The temperature was still hovering around 32, so the roads weren't totally horrible, but we knew the temp was going to drop through the day and that snow would start up in the afternoon.  I came back home and picked up Stephen and we returned the rental car.  After a stop at the grocery store to buy what we needed for lunch, dinner and a pumpkin pie, we were home for the rest of the day.  

The snow ended about 4:00 p.m., so Jon ventured out about 8:00 to play games with his cousins.  Stephen and I made popcorn and watched Monday night football.  As much as I like to visit family and friends, I'm looking forward to being able to wear my flipflops, capris and t-shirts.  We head back to El Salvador on Monday, January 4, so we have a few more days of cold ahead of us.

Merry Christmas

We left California on Christmas Eve afternoon and landed in Kansas City at 9:45 p.m.  It was 10:30 when we left the airport and we were starving.  A quick call to the Minsky's Pizza on Barry Road confirmed that they were open until 11:00 p.m so we enjoyed a half mushroom/half pepperoni as our late Christmas Eve dinner.  It was almost midnight by the time we reached the mission house in Lee's Summit.

Thanks to Steve and Terisa making a HyVee run for us and stocking the frig, I was able to make Stephen and Jon's favorite breakfast on Christmas morning: bacon, eggs, biscuits and gravy.  

Stephen left for West Plains before lunch; Jon and I joined the McKinney side for lunch at my sister's house.  The spread included ham and smoked turkey, plus side dishes and salads too numerous to mention.    

After lunch we played cards and worked on putting together a 1000-piece puzzle.  

Late afternoon, we finally moved into the living room and exchanged the gifts under the tree.  Jon's gifts had a decided Royals bent.

We finished off the gift exchange and headed back to the game tables!  It took most of the night, but we did finish the puzzle.  My dad even played cards with us until midnight!  

Skiing and Fun in the Snow

The ski weather was much better the second day and Jon even arrived in time to ski in the afternoon.  Stephen, Shannon and I spent the day at the lodge; we had plenty of time to watch our grandkids ski and play in the snow.  It was also great to watch our two sons enjoy skiing together.  It was a great day!

Tahoe Donner

We packed up the car yesterday and made the drive to Tahoe area . . . thankfully, it wasn't necessary to put the chains on even when we drove over the pass.  We pulled in to town, stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things and then found our "vacation" home.  There had been quite a bit of snow and it was impossible to get up the driveway, so Stephen and Daniel unloaded the van and then went to a nearby parking lot to put on the chains.  Maleia and Josiah found some time to play in the snow before it got dark!

This  morning the snow was falling like crazy so it turned out to be fortunate that the chains were already on the van.  The wet snow was really piling up.  It was Josiah's first day to ski so he was really excited.  Here they are after breakfast. 

The next step was loading up the van, getting the ski boots, mittens and ski jackets on.  The wind and snow were really blowing when we dropped them off at the entrance.   We were

hoping that Josiah would be brave enough to take his first ski lesson.  Stephen, Aviah and I came back to the condo and played with blocks, babies and puzzles.  They called about 11:15 to say that Tahoe Donner was closing the chair lifts because of the wind.  We picked up four wet, tired and hungry skiers.  Josiah was excited to tell us all about how he learned to make "french fries" and "pizza" with his skies.

Girls Day Out

We all drove to San Francisco after lunch yesterday.  The guys (plus Aviah) dropped Shannon, Maleia and me off at the War Memorial Opera House so we could see the San Francisco ballet company's performance of the Nutcracker!  It was an amazing performance with unbelievable special effects and beautiful ballerinas.

While the girls were having fun at the ballet, the rest of the family went to the California Academy of Sciences and checked out the penguins, caribu, albino alligator, the sting rays, the park and more.  Obviously, it was easier to take pictures at the museum than at the theater!

Show in Santa Cruz

Jon had a Maker's Market Pop-up show on Tuesday night.  We drove down to Santa Cruz in the afternoon, walked around the quaint downtown and bought a couple more gifts for the grandkids.  About 6:00 we drove out to Chaminade Resort and Spa where the show was being held.

There were probably 12-15 artisans showing their wares, including hand-made soaps,  organic jelly and jams, beautiful jewelry and much more.  Jon's showed his live-edge cutting boards, walnut/brass serving trays, wooden coasters, hanging lamps and more.  

It was fun hanging out with Jon during the show and watching people admire his work.  We also had a chance to eat at Bantam again--their gourmet pizzas are amazing.

First Day in California

I'm not a fan of long flights and, by a long flight I mean one that is more than 4 hours.  Normally we fly United from San Salvador to San Francisco which means we go to Houston  (3 hours +/-) and then Houston to San Francisco (4+/-.)  However, yesterday we flew the Avianca non-stop from San Salvador to San Francisco, a 6 hour flight.  Stephen and I played several card games which seemed to help pass the time, but it was still a long flight. 

We landed at SFO at 7:00 p.m. and exited the plane shortly thereafter.  Unfortunately, the line for customs extended about 100+ feet out in to the hallway.  Definitely, not what you want to see when you get off an international flight.

As it turned out, it was much better that Daniel and the family didn't pick us up--by the time we got through the line and got our luggage it was well after 8:00.  Instead, Jon picked us up in his truck and we made it back to Daniel and Shannon's house around 8:30.  The big grandkids were already in bed asleep.  Shannon had our dinner waiting for us and we visited for a couple of hours.  After that, we called it a night pretty quickly as we began to notice the two-hour time difference.

This morning we worshipped at Peninsula Bible Church.  Both Daniel and Shannon worked in kids classes, so we were in the worship service by ourselves.  They celebrated the third Sunday of Advent with a special time of reflection and song.  We sang several hymns and, once again, I was taken by the depth of meaning in the hymn lyrics.  The last phrase of "We Sing the Mighty Power of God" says:  "while all that borrows life from you is ever in your care, and everywhere that we can be, you, God are present there."  What a great truth!

We had family time for the rest of the day, including dinner at a great Mexican restaurant followed by Christmas cookies for dessert.