Grand Christmas VI

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Over a year ago, when the family was together for Thanksgiving dinner in 2010, Lee expressed our hopes to celebrate Grand Christmas VI in Whitefish. With months to prepare, and several flights, layovers, and whistle stops, we finally all made it to Sigh-Bar!(Minus Chris, Colleen, and Max, whom we missed so much. The Christmas break turned into a tonsillectomy and recovery time for Max.)

Lee & I turned the journey into part of the adventure by flying to Spokane, then taking the train to Whitefish. We arrived just in time to celebrate our 41st wedding anniversary, with dinner at the Grouse Mountain Lodge, second year in a row! Then had a day to get the heat in the house turned up, and the refrigerator full, before picking up Nicholas, Alex, & Leo at the Glacier Airport in Kalispell. They were barely settled in before Ben, Amy, Isabelle & Olivia arrived a few hours later. Belle & Livi were so anxious to experience real snow for the first time ever!

One of the first stops on our list was at the hardware store to get a sled. Nick and Belle worked tirelessly on building a snowman, while Ben gave the girls turns sledding down the hill. Lee kept a bonfire blazing out near the barn he is busy building, where we could take a break to get warm and enjoy some hot chocolate. The little girls were bundled up enough to stay warm for hours, and Ben and Nick were such good sports to stay outside and play with them in the cold.

Nicholas & Alex took the opportunity to spend one day skiing at the Whitefish Resort. The rest of us enjoyed sitting near the fireplaces (inside & out)at the lodge, eating french fries, and watching for them to come down the mountain. It's a long, long way to Whitefish from Miami, but Tara finally made it on the 22nd. It was now time to get the Christmas tree! Isabelle led the search through the woods and found just the right one. We even bundled up baby Leo to make the hike, and we all watched G'pa cut it down. Ben took the charge to put the lights on while the rest of us made some ornaments. Is there anything more lovely than a "homemade" Christmas tree?! Then we went into Whitefish and did some last minute shopping in the little shops in town.

We started Christmas Eve with a big breakfast at the IHOP in Kalispell, then went home to get ready for Santa's arrival. We baked sugar cookies, peanut blossoms, and Snickers cookies, and decorated some gingerbread men, so that we would be prepared to leave Santa an appropriate snack. Isabelle took responsibility for the re-enactment of the Christmas story, and by herself wrote and assigned our parts. Leo was to play the baby Jesus, but wasn't quite into letting "Mary" swaddle him!

One of our favorite activities was making our Christmas stockings. We each started with a plain stocking and created our own, personalized treasure. After our traditional Christmas Eve buffet, including holiday nachos -- and Belle's sprinkling of reindeer food outside -- we were ready for dreams of sugarplums. Right on cue at bedtime, snowflakes started to fall!

Christmas morning we were all excited to find our stockings full of surprises, and gifts from Santa for the little ones. One small miracle was that we had time to open and enjoy our presents, have warm cinnamon rolls, get dressed and ready, and be at church in Whitefish by 10 a.m.! The music and scriptures were a beautiful reminder of the celebration of Christ's birth, and the gift of eternal life He gives to each of us. A memorable Christmas Day, complete with a delicious ham dinner and all the fixin's.


One of the best parts of Grand Christmas VI was that there was no agenda, no time schedule, no alarm clocks. We found time every day to exercise, usually with a workout or "insanity" video, over in the shop; we played games, and completed two 1000-piece puzzles on the dining room table; we witnessed the incredible beauties of nature and wildlife; we watched movies, and season one episodes of Modern Family; we attended circus performances by Isabelle & Nick; we took hikes and played in the snow and took turns sledding; everyone took a turn planning and preparing a meal, so we enjoyed a variety of yummy foods, plus lots of flavored hot chocolates (with whipped cream, of course!!); we had time to read, take naps, and enjoy big bubble baths. Grand Christmas VI was truly a "holiday" from our normal routines!




Lee and I are so grateful for our loving family, and for the extra special experience of sharing such a wonderful time together. For us...an especially "Grand" Christmas!