Family + Friends + Florida = Another Knot Tied

Stunning.

It seemed we bounced like ping pong balls from Arkansas back to our respective homes, and then to the Sunshine State to celebrate Bijan and Banafsheh's wedding. In the days between getting home from Arkansas and leaving for Tampa, we were all still feeling a bit googly-eyed and glazed over from all the excitement of the holidays. My mom & dad, and I were each at home long enough to do a few loads of laundry and throw our belongings back into suitcases before heading of to the airports.

<Insert usual ridiculous story about how long it took me to get to the airport from Altus> Long story short, I had a direct flight from Dallas to Tampa. Took me 3.5 hours to get to Dallas, 2 hours to get to Tampa.Yay!

When I arrived in Tampa, my parents were already there. They had flown in from Baltimore and arrived a couple of hours earlier. Just early enough to pick up our rental car and grab a bite to eat. Knowing me as they do and figuring I'd be frantically hungry by the time I arrived, they greeted me at the gate with a buffalo chicken wrap. I ate that thing in a matter of seconds, but will never forget how good it was.

Me & my Babak in St. Pete

We went straight from the airport to my amoo (uncle) Hossein's house. There, we spent a lazy afternoon on his porch enjoying the warm weather and the sun. My cousins were busy with last-minute wedding errands and "to-dos," but by the time dinner rolled around, everyone had congregated at Hossein's house. The party included: Three amoos (Hossein, Hassan, & Taghi), one aunt (Elaine), two cousins (Babak & Bijan the groom), the bride-to-be (Banafsheh), one couple who are good friends of the bride & groom (Milad & Nazi), mom, dad , and me! Hossein, after spending most of the afternoon in the kitchen, served a delicious Persian dinner complete with all of my favorite dishes! We had a great time hanging out together and were so pleased that Bijan and Banafsheh decided to spend the evening before their wedding day in our company.

On the day of the wedding, we spent most of the morning on the porch. We did this everyday we were there because Hossein's porch overlooks a beautiful pond with ducks and herons and various other waterfowl. The weather on that particular weekend in Tampa was perfect, so we happily watched the hours pass from that spot.

In the afternoon, my mom and I had hair appointments. Usually Gila is our personal hair stylist, but unfortunately she wasn't able to make it to Florida that weekend. Desperate times called for desperate measures, so mom and I called on the experts...or so we thought....

Thankfully sporting "hair dos" rather than "hair don'ts"

We ended up at a little salon near my uncle's house. The two women working in the salon both acted a little squirrely when we showed up, but we thought nothing of it. I sat in the chair first, and the poor girl worked on my up-do for well over an hour; verging on two. Somewhere near the 90th minute of tugging, struggling, and sighing, she admitted that she was told our appointment was for "two little girls getting their hair done for a birthday party" and that up-dos are not her thing. She would be, "happy to color my hair and put in some extensions, though!" Luckily, she was really sweet and I (consider myself to be) a very easy-going customer. With a lot of patience, some stylistic input from me, and a little encouragement, she eventually created a pretty nice hairdo. My mom's hair was a little less intimidating and she did a great job with it in a pretty short amount of time. Hair crisis averted, we went back to Hossein's to get ready for the wedding. 

Babak and me

Step aside Brangelina

A couple of contenders for "world's best uncle"

Dad & Amoo Hossein (ps, Babak made the centerpieces)

The wedding took place in the clubhouse (not a good word for it) in a beautiful Tampa neighborhood. The houses all around it were picturesque and ginormous, like pictures out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine. There were sculptures and fountains outside the building and beautiful archways, great rooms, and balconies inside. The ceremony took place in the presence of close family and friends only. The best ceremonies are those that are memorable. Those of us lucky enough to share in the experience will never forget how wonderful or sweet Bijan and Banafsheh's ceremony was. 

Moments after it ended, the rest of the guests began to arrive; somewhere between 50 and 60 in total. The party started with dancing (just how I like it)! It was a unique reception that mixed aspects of both Persian and American culture, with a twist on it all. I am not able to speak on anything that went on that night besides dancing as I think I only left the floor to eat dinner (which was delicious). It was such a celebratory and fun-filled night. I couldn't help but get teary-eyed a few times when thinking about how amazing it was that so much of my dad's family was in one room, in America. We had patiently waited so long for that exact moment. It was hard to be anything but thankful.

St. Petersburg

Some of the crew

On Sunday, we spent the day in St. Petersburg, FL. It is kind of an artsy fartsy little place with huge old trees and beautiful views of Tampa Bay. We walked along popping in and out of shops and galleries before making our way to the pier where we had lunch. The food was great and the view was beautiful. We were having a wonderful time except a few of us (myself included) had a little trouble staying calm in the presence of hundreds of descending sea gulls. In fact, one very aggressive bird even took it upon himself to steal a chip right out of my mom's fingers. I tell you, my mom and the animals, really not sure what's going on with that...

That night the whole crowd from the pre-wedding night got together again for dinner on Sunday. This time we went out for Italian food. We visited for so long that we closed the restaurant down. It was a great way to end the trip with all of us together again, one more time.

Babak and Momma in St. Pete

Monday morning made for one last relaxing morning on the porch. Bijan & Banafsheh came over for lunch. Hossein cooked some very yummy spaghetti (Persian style). We all stuffed ourselves silly one last time before it was time to say goodbye. Mom and I had flights home that afternoon and my dad stayed until Tuesday.

Trying to postpone goodbye for as long as possible, my mom and I indulged in classy top-shelf martinis at the TGI Friday's airport bar. After pushing it to the point that my mom was being paged for her flight, we went our separate ways, hopped on our planes, and headed for opposite sides of the country. Because I still had a three and a half hour drive when I got home and I was getting into Dallas close to 10, I stayed the night at my friend Shannon's house. Her mom surprised me with a visit, too, staying up way past her bedtime to say hello. Shannon and I proceeded to stay up way past her bedtime visiting, but we had a great time. Poor Shan had to go to work in the AM, but I (after being gifted with a spare key) was invited to sleep in until I could pull myself together to get on the road.

On Tuesday morning, I made my way home to Altus. As usual, it was wonderful to come home. I am so fortunate to have been able to take all of those trips and spend time with all of those people, but after almost a full month of bouncing around the country, I was happy to be back in A-town and back home with Eric. A prolonged stay in my sleepy town was just what the doctor ordered.

The Big Eight-Oh!

ma-tri-arch
Noun:     1. A woman who is the head of a family or tribe.
              2. An older woman who is powerful within a family or organization.
              3. My grandmother.

The Crew

photo credit: Lee Guthrie Photography, www.leeguthriephotography.com

I've talked before about how cool my grandmother is. But I'll do it again.

My grandmother is glue that holds one huge, spread out family together. Many moons ago, my grandparents made an investment in having a large family. I know it mustn't have been easy, but the look on my grandmother's face when we all come together says, "It was worth it." Together, they had six children who went on to build families of their own. In total, there are well over thirty of us including grand and great-grandchildren. My most recent attempt to count came to thirty-six, but I am never quite confident that I'm remembering every person at any given time.

The almost-whole family came together on what many call "New Years Day," but we call "Grandma's Birthday" to celebrate my grandmother's eightieth year.  The only people missing from the party were Joe (grandson) and Rebecca who were absent (along with their children) because they were bringing yet another grandchild into our ever-expanding clan. Little Randy, Jr. shares a birth month with the lady of honor!

My grandmother is the coolest grandmother for a number of reasons,
I will mention but a few:

1. She loves The Godfather trilogy
2. She has incredible wisdom and and the sharpest wit; a powerful combination
3. She has a (not so) secret crush on Howie Long
4. She loves art, history, travel, and culture
5. On rare occasions, she has popcorn and a beer for dinner
6. She creates wonderful opportunities for our family to spend time together and enjoy each others company
7. For a time, her ringtone was "Black Betty" by Ram Jam
8. She is the picture of strength and resilience
9. She likes to "yank people's chains," but certainly isn't afraid laugh at herself, too
10. She is always up to learn more, understand more, and pursue personal growth

 I could go on and on...

Suffice it to say, she is well-loved, respected & admired by many, and everyone wants to sit with her at dinner. She keeps us laughing. She teaches us through example that joy can be found in the small things in life.

I know I speak for all of us when I say, we are lucky to have you, we are so thankful for you, we love you, and we were overjoyed to be able to celebrate the big Eight-Oh with you. Happy (belated) birthday, Grandma!

Kitchen Smitchen

So we had this plan, right? Eric was going to prep the house in anticipation of my family's visit so that while they were here, we could slap down all the new flooring and call it a day. All the extra hands on deck were going to make it a simple and quick job. But you know what they (Robert Burns) say(s)...

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry." And they did. But it ended up being a good thing.

Due to some unexpected plumbing eruptions issues that kept Eric busy for a full week, the prep work for laying the floors never happened. I informed my parents that, despite their hopes for a week full of hard labor, blood, and sweat, they would have to settle for a relaxing week of visiting, vegging, and eating (standard holiday itinerary). If you know my parents, you know that they love a good project and that this was not the kind of week they were looking for. I mean, they had already packed their work clothes and everything!

So, being that I have a few projects on my long and vast home-improvement "to do " list, I was able to quickly formulate a plan B. "How about repainting the kitchen?" I asked. It was the perfect idea being that Eric and I had purchased the paint long ago, but had been suffering from a very serious case of "we don't want to paint another wall ever...EVER."

Not to my surprise, my family jumped right on board with that idea. Eric removed cabinet doors, my dad removed the horrid crown molding & took over sanding, my mom did all the edging, and my sister and I were the holy rollers. This is what happens when four smart, talented and creative people and me put their heads, sanders, screwdrivers, and paintbrushes together and get to work:

Old Kitchen

New Kitchen

Old Kitchen

New Kitchen

Old Dining Room

New Dining Room

Ta Da!

Here is how we did the cabinets:
1. Remove all doors, sand front and back, wipe clean before priming
2. Lightly sand all of the cabinets and faces of drawers in the kitchen (this was the messiest part, lots and lots of dust- if you want to do more work you could remove them from the house and do this outside- we did it inside, but it worked for us) 
3. Remove contents of all cabinets and drawers
3. Paint ONE coat of primer on front and back of each door and all of the cabinets and drawers
4. Paint TWO coats of paint on all of the above
5. Clean insides of all drawers and cabinets with soapy water before returning the contents
6. Give doors and drawers ample time to dry before allowing them to touch the surfaces of the cabinets again, this prevents sticking and peeling of paint

The whole ordeal was a big mess and a huge project to try to take on in just a couple of days. There were moments where none of us could fathom picking up another tool or brush, but I come from a family of champions and no one wanted to be the quitter! And at the end of the day, the dust cleared, the paint dried, things were returned to their places, and we had a great time doing it! It was actually a pretty fun way to spend time together as a family. We all felt proud of the end result and impressed by what we had accomplished. A million and two thank yous to mom, dad & Gila!!

Eric and I could not be more pleased with our new kitchen. It feels homier, warmer, and about 20 years more modern than the former one. We still have a few more things to do before we can wrap the kitchen project: (1) finish painting the cabinet doors and put them back on with new hardware, (2) paint and re-cover cushions on bar chairs (above on right), and (3) put in those darn new floors!

Mom, dad, Gila, you all planning to visit anytime soon? I kid, I kid!! (kind of....) 

THE Road Trip from YouKnowWhere

The plan? My parents and I had to drive from Columbia, MD to a place in TN to pick up Gila who was being dropped off by Clint. We would all enjoy a relaxing lunch with Clint & Gila and then the four of us would hit the road to Altus and arrive on Christmas Eve. We expected the drive from Columbia to Altus to take about  26 hours to complete.

Nothing but open road ahead

We had one big goal in mind, which was to make it to Altus without having to stop in a hotel. This goal was contingent on a number of "hopes," too: we hope it doesn't snow, we hope we have the stamina, we hope we make good time, etc. We had developed a number of coping strategies to help us get through this ordeal. We rented a huge van; a really nice van in which we could construct a bed of sorts that we could take turns using to lay down and sleep- this was crucial. We made sure that all four of us were listed as drivers on the rental. If we broke the drive up into two-hour driving shifts, it would make the time go by faster (or at least feel like it). We left Maryland really early in the morning so that by the time the afternoon rolled around, we could feel like we'd made significant progress. Finally, we all had agreed that it was okay to stop if we really needed to. This made us feel like we weren't being forced to torture ourselves; we were opting to torture ourselves (a nice little mental trick).

In the days before the trip, we felt like we were preparing for a marathon. And finally, the day arrived. Our alarms went off at 5am. We got ready, packed the last items into the van, and were out of the house by close to six. My dad hopped in the passenger seat, I in the back, and my mom was going to take the first driving shift. My mom said, "ready!?" with excitement. We replied, "yep!" with equal gusto. She turned the key. We did not hear the churning of a powerful V6 minivan engine. No, we heard..clicking.

Our balloons of hope were deflating rapidly and we reacted through a combination of reasoning, blame, and panic.

"Maybe it's the battery?"
"Did you leave the lights on last night?"
"Expletive" 
"I swear everything was turned off."
"This sucks."
"What are we going to DO?"

And finally my dad said, "Let me try." So my mom got out of the car and handed my dad the keys. He did some jiggling and turning and the car started! We immediately celebrated and began to rationalize why it didn't start in the first place,

"You know how sometimes the shifter isn't all the way in park and you can't start the car when that happens?"
"Yeah, exactly. Isn't it funny we thought we were going to have to get a different car?"
"So funny!"

Does that look comfy, or what?

And we were off! We made great time to TN! We stopped for food and for gas and did not have any further problems with that tricky engine. You silly van, you. My mom and I each took morning naps in the van-bed. Our confidence in our ability to make it to Altus in one fell swoop was increasing with each passing hour. We arrived at our meeting place (Ruby Tuesdays) in TN just a few minutes before Gila & Clint.

The five of us had a great time at lunch. We got to hear all about Gila's visit with Clint's family and what Clint's plans were for Christmas. We got to talk about how much time we had ahead and make jokes about how rough it was going to be. We made no mention of the incident in the driveway that morning not because we wanted to keep it a secret, but because we had all forgotten about it. That was how much we believed that it was a fluke and not a real, potential problem. We showed off our makeshift bed to Gila & Clint who both agreed that it looked really comfy! We exchanged Christmas gifts with Clint, said our goodbyes, and piled into the van.

Dad turned the key....clicking.

Life is good!

Everyone was pretty surprised to hear this old, familiar sound. Gila had to be filled in on what happened earlier and again we started postulating about what was causing the problem. I remembered that when this happened in the morning, my mom took the keys out of the ignition and handed them to my dad. Maybe, just maybe my dad had used a different key than my mom to start the car. I suggested,

"Dad, try the other key, maybe one of the keys is messed up!"

Dad tried the other key and low and behold, the van started! Again we were relieved to finally know the real problem. One of the keys was bent or something! Obviously! We made a mental note of the key we should use versus the key we shouldn't use and got on with our day. Worry-free.

Happier times

We made several stops for gas, to stretch our legs, to switch drivers. No problems! We were making great time. All of us were enjoying the use of the bed. Gila and I were even able to lay down next to each other and watch episodes Modern Family on her computer...that was just how awesome it was! We were unstoppable and also a bit hungry. We decided to stop at Chick Fil-A for dinner. We were all pretty road-happy and loopy by that time. We had the giggles and were acting as though we had never been in a Chick Fil-A before; staring at the menu like we'd never seen it. We even had to ask the girl who took our orders what city and state we were in! Turns out, we were still somewhere in TN. FYI, TN is one long and narrow state. If you ever consider crossing it horizontally, be prepared for this.

We finished dinner, piled into the car, mom turned the key..........clicking. We double checked to make sure we used the right key. We did. We made sure the van was alllll-the-way in park. It was. This time it did not re-start. We had to call roadside assistance. The woman on the other end of the phone was nice, but tedious. She made my mom honk the horn, flash the lights, etc., etc. We were attracting a lot of attention in that Chick Fil-A parking lot. One nice woman offered to help us. There was nothing anyone could do except wait for the towing company.

Tow-man arrived. He was very kind and very sympathetic. He jumped our car with this giant battery and it started. (We decided that what we really needed was a battery pack with jumper cables, not a new car, that thing was sweet). He turned off the engine and tried to re-start it....clicking. He confirmed that there was some kind of major issue and strongly encouraged us to swap cars to prevent us from being stranded out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of night. He jumped the car again and pointed us in the direction of the Memphis airport through a very long set of detailed directions, which he repeated several times. My mom was patiently saying, "uh huh," "mm-hmm," and nodding, but the look on her face said, "Dude, I tuned out a few minutes ago." My sister, dad and I were trying not to laugh so hard, but failing miserably.

We pulled out of the parking lot and were on our way to Memphis when we received a call from the rental company. They said they would be happy to switch out our car so long as we returned our van with a full tank of gas. I can't repeat what my dad's response was, but trust me, it was funny. Luckily my mom was the one on the phone and she said, "So, my car wont start if I turn it off, do you want me to refill the tank with the engine on?" They replied, "No, don't do that, we apologize, just get here." So we did.

In rental car world, what happened to us was that we got upgraded to a swanky SUV. In our world, we lost some significant space, including our bed. We stuffed everything into that car and were pretty cramped. The middle seats could not recline at all because of all the stuff in the back row. We got into several arguments with one another before leaving the parking lot. We drove for about 20 minutes with the headlights off because my dad was too stubborn to pull over and get to know the functions on the car. My mom had sunk into what only appeared to be a deep depression. I oscillated between yelling at people and trying to play peacemaker. Gila just tried to make everyone smile. To top all of this off, the car smelled strongly of strawberry shortcake (which was the straw(berry) that broke the camel's back for my mom) and had a significant shimmy.

We tried to regain our confidence that we could still make it, despite the hold ups, the lost time, and the lost bed. No one wanted to be the one to say, "Let's stop," but the loss of the bed was a fatal blow. A little less than two hours after we shimmied out of Memphis, we decided to start looking for hotels.

Everyone fell asleep immediately and pretty much without speaking to one another. "Never go to bed angry" were words of wisdom that were proving difficult to live by that night. We had all reached our limits. We woke up around eight the next morning, had breakfast, started being nice to each other again, and got back on the road.

We love you, Eric!

The remainder of the trip was pretty unremarkable. We made good time and the smell of strawberries had either become familiar or had actually diminished. The car still shimmied, but at least it started. We drove straight from wherever we stopped to Altus, stopping only for gas. We arrived in the early afternoon of Christmas Eve. We were so happy to see Eric and he had made us beautiful homemade pizzas for dinner.

We failed to accomplish our goal, but what really mattered was that we arrived safely and that we still kind of loved each other. We agreed that, at the end of the day,  it was better that we stopped anyway. At least our nights and days were on track and we didn't have to pull into the driveway, greet Eric and proceed to sleep the day away.

All's well that ends well, but I think it will be a while before we attempt that kind of trip again.

Friends: the Bacon Bits in the Salad Bowl of Life

Friends spice up your life, they are keepers of your stories, secrets, and memories. Friends are the family you choose. I am fortunate to say that I've collected a pretty fabulous bunch of friends over the years and my extended stay in Maryland allowed me to visit with many of them. These visits were the much-needed antidote to the funk in which I was starting to fall. Day after day at home in Altus was starting to wear on me and above all, I missed the sense of community I enjoyed in Maryland among my family and friends. The time I shared with them while at home re-filled my proverbial gas tank and gave me the motivation I needed to take Altus head-on...again.

Triple Trouble

Our visit home was kicked off by a wonderful weekend in Annapolis to celebrate the marriage of our dear friends, Lee and Margo. Eric, Lee, and Margo have been friends since high school, which meant the wedding festivities doubled as a miniature high school reunion (with all the ole favorites).

The fun started on Friday night when we attended the rehearsal dinner hosted by Big Lee and Belinda (Lee's parents). Belinda made a delicious Lasagna (my personal fave) and I sampled my very first oyster shooter. The party certainly was a love-fest and lasted late into the evening. It ended with a bunch of people standing outside, huddled around a heat lamp telling stories about Margo & Lee.

On Saturday afternoon, the happy couple tied the knot in an intimate, Christmas-themed ceremony held at Historic London Town and Gardens in Edgewater, MD. We ate, drank, and danced the night away in a quaint cottage overlooking the South River. After the wedding, people congregated at Fado where we continued the celebration. This was the second wedding after party that we've attended at Fado in a matter of months. Clearly, the hot-spot of the year!

At what felt like 2 am, but was actually 10 something (this happens when you start to party like a rockstar in mid-afternoon and down multiple picklebacks), we received the most amazing text from Dave and Kelley, "We got pizza." Eric and I promptly said our goodbyes, gave our well-wishes to the bride & groom, and made a beeline to our hotel room where we ended the perfect night with the perfect pizza pie complete with a side of grease.
 

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Christmas Eve Eve: a tradition that began long ago with a young Katie and Pogo, which was adopted by a loving group of college pals and went on to become part of our holiday celebrations for the better part of five (6?, 7?, 8?) years. What is it? A big sleepover with my best friends on the eve of Christmas Eve. The way we celebrate changes from year to year, but there are always a few constants: food, libations, an informal "participate-if-you-can-this-year" gift exchange, and lots and lots of laughter.

In years past, we booked hotel rooms and enjoyed wild nights on the town. In more recent history, we've taken to having pot lucks dinners and playing wild games of catch phrase. This year, we were fairly certain that it wouldn't happen due to conflicting schedules, weddings, too much travel, etc. Needless to say, we were all pretty devastated. However, when I realized that I would be home for Lee & Margo's wedding, I threw the idea out to celebrate an early Christmas Eve Eve. We were all able to come together for Christmas Eve Eve Part One on a Monday night. Meg even came up from North Carolina just to have dinner with us. We all sat around in my mom & dad's basement, eating kabobs from Maiwand, and enjoying a long-overdue conversation that allowed us to catch up on the goings on in each others' lives. I didn't take any pictures at Part One, which means I had to crop Meg into a picture taken at Part Two. Sincere apologies for that.

Part Two took place the following weekend (Saturday night) at Laura & Dan's house in Prince Frederick, MD. They live in a really cute, historic looking neighborhood. And Laura, who absolutely loves Christmas, had their adorable house completely decorated. It looked like a picture out of a magazine. We had a pot luck dinner, which was incredibly classy. The main course was pot roast and along with it we devoured mashed potatoes, green beans, crusty bread, salads with berries, and a salted caramel pumpkin pie. YUM. We sipped spiced (and spiked) cider, wine, champagne, and five hour energy drinks so that we were able to maximize every last second of our time together. These pictures happened as a result of one (or all) of the aforementioned beverages. I like to call them Reindeer Games.

Dasher

Dancer

Prancer

Vixen

Comet, yo

I am thankful to say that 2011 came to a close with not one but two successful Christmas Eve Eve celebrations on the books. Ladies, I propose that we never again consider skipping Christmas Eve Eve, even if it means celebrating in June.

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Becky, Destiny, and Lisa are three life-long friends. Friends from elementary school, in fact. We have managed to stay in touch and continue to make visiting each other a priority even after moves, marriages, and the birth of children. I got to see each of these lovely women during my most recent visit to Maryland.

The great news was that I saw them. The bad news was that my camera did not document the occasions. Bad camera!

I had lunch with Becky one afternoon at her home. She made me a delicious meal of shrimp quesadillas. We spent a couple of hours catching up on life and reminiscing about the past. Becky and I have been friends since second grade. We spent a good number of years joined at the hip. We enjoyed marathon sleepovers, exploring the woods, trips to the beach, and daring each other to talk to the boys we liked on AIM. We remained friends throughout high school and college and attended each others weddings. Here is another fun bit of trivia: both of our husbands are named Eric! I was so thankful to be able to see her and am already looking forward to our next opportunity to visit.

Destiny and her husband recently bought a new house in Clarksburg, MD, which they moved into right after their second daughter was born (less that five months ago). I was invited to spend the day with Destiny and her girls at their new house so I made the drive over. Both girls were just waking up from a nap when I arrived.

Her oldest, almost two year old, June, was perky and ready to play when she got up. She is the most delightful little girl! She has learned to talk since last time I saw her, which made visiting with her so much more fun! She is sweet, friendly, curious, and quite theatrical. She had me laughing the whole day.

Helen is a really sweet baby. She is pretty quiet and looks like shes just taking it all in, her big sister seems to keep her thoroughly entertained. Helen had a doctors appointment so we played in the basement and had a snack before loading into the car for that. 

After the appointment, we took a long walk and played on the playground. Before too long it was getting dark and time to go inside so June could eat her dinner. Mike, Destiny's husband, came home from work while June was eating. After June finished, we all spent a little time hanging out, playing, dancing to Christmas music, and visiting before Destiny and Mike had to start the bedtime routine with the girls. 

That evening, Destiny and I met Lisa at The Melting Pot in Rockville, MD. The three of us go way back and it had been a pretty long time since we have had time to visit without kids or husbands around. Destiny (mother of two), Lisa (mother of three), and I (girl who lives in Altus and never goes anywhere fancy anymore) were outright giddy to be out and at a restaurant together. Lisa was so overcome with excitement that she got lost in the parking lot and ended up parking in such a weird, remote, far away place that she asked us to walk her to her car after dinner. We ordered cheese, salads, and chocolate and ate our faces off!

It is funny the way the world works. Lisa moved back to Maryland from Rochester only a few weeks before I moved to Oklahoma. I am grateful that she lives in Maryland now, though, as I imagine it would be very difficult to see each other for a while if she didn't! A couple of days after our dinner out, I spent the afternoon at her house with her two sons and newborn daughter. Jacob and Duncan have grown so much since last time I saw them. Jacob was always a chatterbox and Duncan is getting pretty chatty himself these days. Baby Cammie is a joy, and like Destiny's daughter, Helen, just takes is all in. Quietly and pleasantly. The weather was beautiful so Lisa and I took the kids on a long walk; making stops at several tot lots along the way. After the walk, we made lunch and then the two younger kids took naps. During their nap time, Lisa and I stole a few minutes alone to talk (and eat some Christmas cookies without being busted by the kids). I didn't take any pictures that day so here are a few I've stolen from Facebook. You have to know just how cute these kids are!

Jacob

Duncan

Cammie

All I can say is everyone should be so lucky to have such wonderful friends.

Kinfolk and Christmas(es)

All the babies love uncle Square Bear

When it comes to family, we pretty much won the lottery. We have families who love us, make us laugh, cheer us on when we're up, and support us when we're down. The toughest part about living in Altus (aside from all the other tough things that are fun to whine and complain about) is being away from family. This is why, when we have the opportunity to go home, we love to maximize our time with our clans. This brings me to another reason why Eric and I are so fortunate when it comes to family: our families genuinely like one another. They have each other over for dinners and invite each other to join in on celebrations of milestones and the like. Both mine and Eric's parents open their hearts and homes to us, to each other, and to friends each time we come to town. It feels like one long party every time we are home.

You know your family is cool when they are willing to move around holiday celebrations in order to accommodate your schedule.  For example, just this year, we celebrated two early Thanksgivings (one at Eric's mom & dad's house, which my family attended and one at my mom & dad's house, which Eric's family attended) and two early Christmases. In fact, by the time the actual dates of Thanksgiving and Christmas arrived, I felt like it was already February.

Playing peek-a-boo!

The first Christmas celebration was one that Eric's parents had planned to take place during the weekend that Eric and I came to Maryland for a wedding. On Sunday morning, we exchanged presents by the Christmas tree with Lourdes, Jerry, Jacqueline, Tim, and Caitlin. Eric and I were delighted to find that Santa had even paid an early visit to fill our stockings.

Later that afternoon, my parents were invited to come over to watch the Ravens game with us and enjoy dinner. We shared a delicious meal and were endlessly delighted by all of Caitlin's cuteness. It was a wonderful day and we had much to be thankful for. To all be together. To all have our health. For Jacqueline passing the CPA exam. And for the Ravens beating the Colts (though that would have been more impressive last year).

The second Christmas celebration took place a couple of days before Christmas when Eric's sister, Kelly, arrived in Maryland with Mia and Mason in tow. Unfortunately, Eric had already returned to Altus by that point so he did not get to see them, but Kelly and I decided to get together to visit and exchange gifts in person (more fun that way). Once again, Jerry and Lourdes prepared a delicious meal and I was fortunate to be able to spend another evening with Eric's family. There are three grandchildren now so time together has turned into a really fun game of pass the baby. Mia is adorable to watch with the babies, too. She loves to hold them and play with them and is really helpful with taking care of them. She is clearly a great big sister to Mason and couldn't seem to get enough of Caitlin either. It was so much fun to watch the three of them together.

Caitlin & Mia go tubing

*eek* so many cheeks to pinch!

Lou Lou and her grandbabies

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer

We celebrated Christmas Day in Altus with my parents and sister. On Christmas morning, we got up, exchanged gifts and enjoyed a big Persian breakfast (the contents of which had traveled across country with us). An exercise of true determination.

We spent the rest of the day preparing a huge Christmas dinner. Eric made the turkey, stuffing and green beans, I mashed the potatoes, and Gila made fresh apple cobbler for dessert. Yum, yum, and yum! Our friends Sarah and Joe (who work with Eric) and Gila's long-time best bud, Shannon (who lives in Texas) joined us for dinner. We spent a large portion of the night reading from my favorite book about Altus called, Altus as I Remember. That book will make you laugh until you cry (or cry until you laugh if you are the one who actually lives here...).

This is a man who knows his way around the kitchen

Doing complicated math in order to make self-rising flour

My clan

Gila and Shannon

Merry Christmas from Altus, OK!

It was kind of a crazy first holiday season away from home, but it was full of love and opportunities to be together. For what more could you ask?