We'd had an unseasonably warm December. No snow. The week before Christmas it was in the 60s. Rocky, Kimberly (his beautiful wife) and baby Vera made it safely from Italy and began their 2 week tour of Ohio. Mom and Steve were scheduled to come in the Friday before Christmas, a cold and snowy day.
Rocky set out for the airport to pick up our weary Minnesotan travelers. Kimberly and I are waiting at home with the babies wondering what is taking so long. We finally get a call. Despite his wife's warning, Rock forgot to check the gas gauge. The rental car is out of gas. They are stuck along the highway waiting for roadside assistance. We can't get many details from them as Rocky's phone is somehow almost out of battery. Mom spent too much time playing games on her phone and hers is also about to die. Pat is at work, but I give him a ring. I leave a message about the situation to see if he could at least pick up Mom and Steve on his way home from work . Pat never calls me back.
When Pat gets home, I relay the info to him. Turns out his phone was dead too. Seriously, does anyone use phone chargers? What is the point of cell phones if they are ALL dead? He mentions he did see one car along the highway, but it was white and there was some guy standing outside of it. I remind Pat Rocky's rental car was white. We later confirm that Rocky was in fact standing outside of the car. In fact, he gets tired of waiting for help, leaves the precious cargo in the backseat and goes scaling a wall looking for a gas station. He doesn't find one and has to succumb to waiting. Looks like Pat unknowingly drove right by them.
They finally make it a few hours late, but what is going on with Annie? She was supposed to be driving in from Virginia the same day. Mom is worried as the road conditions are bad. Annie has been fighting off a bug so she postpones her trip and goes to the doctor instead. Turns out Annie has the FLU and is highly contagious. Something to know about Annie- she passes out every time she gets a shot and despite my dad's constant urging she always resists getting a flu shot. She knows Dad will never let her live this one down. We wonder if Annie will be able to make it at all. Caleb ends up getting a fever the day after Mom and Steve settle in. We had to miss church on Sunday as little man was not feeling like himself.
Annie ends up making it on Christmas Eve and we have a lovely day together. Caleb is mostly better. We wouldn't let "Typhoid Annie" (as I called her all day), help out in the kitchen. Mom organized the cooking while Kimberly and I assisted. We had 11 adults, 3 kids and 2 babies all together for a great meal. My parents, step-parents, siblings, half siblings, an Uncle and Aunt, it was a real Brady Bunch Family Christmas. It was one of the nicest holidays my family has had in years.
Caleb is bunking in our room and goes to sleep great on Christmas Eve. Baby Vera crying, people laughing, nothing wakes him. Until Pat and I go tip-toeing into bed.... He pops up in his pack n' play and REFUSES to go back to sleep. We don't want to leave him crying and wake the whole house. We try everything we know to do. Rock him, sing to him, stroke his head, try to let him sleep in our bed, let him get up and read for a bit. Before you know it it is 3 am. We're frustrated. Caleb is sitting in our bed, wide awake, reading a Christmas book, pointing at the donkeys and saying "ee-aww." Pat and I don't think he's very cute right now. We move his bed into the master bathroom, shut the door and let him cry. Even that doesn't work. Finally at 4:30 am I take him into the living room. He falls right asleep. Why? I have no idea. We hope Caleb will sleep in, but he's ready to go at 8 am. When we wake up on Christmas morning, Pat and I are grumpy and sleep deprived. Pat calls him "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and I think it's hilarious. Caleb is grumpy all day and we worry he thinks his awful behavior is rewarded by getting a bunch of Christmas presents.
Mom and Steve are scheduled to fly out the day after Christmas. It ends up being the biggest snowstom we've had all year. Every single flight in and out of the airport is cancelled early in the morning. Every flight except Mom's. We call the airport, the airline- all say the flight is going. We say our teary goodbyes and send them on their way. The airport is only 25 minutes away, but they leave extra early as the roads are so bad. Rocky braves the terrible conditions and drops them off. The highway gets shut down. Rock is stuck taking back roads home and again his iPhone isn't working right so he can't get his gps to work. The airline waits until the flight is scheduled to take off and then cancels it. Rocky has to turn back around and get them. It takes him 5 hours of driving to finally bring them home. We're glad to get another evening with them, but frustrated at the situation.
They reschedule the flight for the following day at a different airport. Or so we think. We say our goodbyes again, this time a little easier. The conditions are much better and everything seems good to go. Rock, Kimberly and baby Vera head out to take them and do a little shopping by the airport. They get dropped off. It turns out something got confused and their flight was scheduled for the FOLLOWING day. They're allowed to go through and attempt to fly standby. They wait hours. After much deliberation, frustration and confusion, Rocky and family come back to our house. They had been waiting in a nearby mall for hours with an 8 month old baby. Mom and Steve don't make the standby flight. It is cheaper to rent a car and drive back to our place instead of get a hotel downtown. Again we're glad to get another evening with them, but frustrated at the situation.
Friday is goodbye # 3 to Mom and Steve. We joke about seeing them in the evening. They pack up and go. Their plane really takes off this time. Rocky and family plan to drive with Annie to Virginia, spend a few days there and then fly back to Italy. After Rocky plays real life tetris with all the luggage in Annie's Honda Fit they too head off. On their way they realize the only flight back to Italy they can get on is that night. They re-route their plans for Annie to drop them off in Baltimore. My house is quiet and lonely once again. At least I have memories of car troubles, sickness, blizzards, playing "Killer Bunnies", good food, laughter and a full house to get me through until our next Christmas to remember. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
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