Fr-Fog and Other Pre-Christmas Happenings

Because I am behind, I am going to go in order here, so we'll start with the days leading up to Christmas, which brought two long-awaited visitors, my parents, and some freezing fog, which for simplicity sake, we just called fr-fog. The days were full of happy visiting and last minute shopping, as well as the great consumption of delicious delicacies (as is always the case when my family gets together). One of my New Years resolutions must now be to get rid of these happy holiday pounds, although they were worth every bite! We were sad that my sister and her boyfriend, Jason, couldn't come out to celebrate with us this year, but he was busily delivering last-minute packages for UPS, so we understood why they had to stay in Cali and settled for missing them.

The day my parents arrived, the fog was thick and temperatures were in the teens. Driving back from the airport after picking up my dad, there were sections of the road where we couldn't see more than 40 feet around us. It is creepy, but it causes the coolest phenomenon when the fog literally freezes to things as it comes into contact with them. The bushes become spiny and encased in glass, the grass evolves into a thick, white shag carpet, each water crystal is so obvious and lovely; it almost looks like it has snowed just a dusting, but it has not, and you can tell when you get up close and everything looks as if it holds a dangerous beauty. My mom couldn't stop taking pictures of the fr-fog, she was so fascinated. My dad, Adam and the boys didn't let it stop them from having some outdoor fun, as a matter of fact, I think it added to the fun! And to Luke, the fr-fog meant a tasty cold treat! There was much relaxing, but also some exercising (which unfortunately didn't do enough to combat the enormous caloric intake--just a minute, I need to unbutton the top of my jeans--ahh, better). I got in some nice long runs with three other adults to keep the kiddies entertained, and we also all took some walks together as a group through our nearby "brown space." The boys were delighted to find some frozen-over ponds to slide around on (don't worry, they were only a few inches deep). Luke was a little sad that we wouldn't allow him to get to the frozen part by walking through the unfrozen water, but Zach came to his rescue and helped him out by carting him around to the frozen side on his back. Ruby, however, preferred the unfrozen bits and was so happy to romp through the nasty, mucky water. Merry Christmas, Ruby girl!
Zach spent a vast majority of the three days preceding Christmas after my parents' arrival playing with his 10th birthday gift that they brought with them, an RC helicopter. You can see it in the upper left hand corner of the photo below slightly camouflaged by the holly berry garland. Zach absolutely loves it!
We also had a fantastic opportunity to go caroling with some friends from church at a local retirement community. It was reminiscent of the caroling I used to do every year with my family at one of the hospitals in Seattle when I was in middle and high school, for all the poor folks who were stuck there, too sick to go home. I loved that I could share this night with my Dad, who was the co-orchestrator of our hospital caroling sessions. It was fun seeing all the grandmas and grandpas enjoying the songs, and often hearing them join in. During our closing song "Silent Night" I looked around and about 2/3 of the folks were singing along, eyes closed, slight smiles lifting their lips and curling at their eyes, feeling the goodness of the Christmas spirit. It was a great night that was filled with the true meaning of Christmas, and I am so glad my friend Bessie took the time to organize it and invited us all!
And then came Christmas Eve....