From David:
Things are finally settling down after a wonderful (if somewhat frantic) holiday at the lake and at home. Ben, Keon and I will all have a go at telling you about it.
Most of us arrived at Tablerock on Christmas eve afternoon. The cabin roofs were all outlined with lights – and Jim and a friend had put two pine Christmas trees in each of our cabins – ready for decorations. The kids had great fun going from cabin-to-cabin putting on lights and ornaments. We all spent Christmas Eve in our own cabins (or condos) so we could have family Christmas and “Santa” on Christmas morning.
On Christmas day, we all went to Cal and Alex’ for the big celebration. There were 25 of us, which included the Grands, Jim and Carol and Roberta and Mr Martinez. Alex’ decorations were breath-taking. Their cabin was an absolute Christmas wonderland done in silver and green with a beautifully decorated 12′ pine tree. We had wondered how they were going to seat us all for meals, but Alex had that covered with 5 square folding card tables, one round folding table and 25 (numbered) folding chairs. For each group meal, we filled our plates cafeteria-style and drew a number at the end of the food line. Then we each sat at the table with our numbered chair. It was a stroke of genius on Alex’ part because we all got to sit with different people at each meal. It was fun, and the kids absolutely loved it!
The highlight of Christmas Day was a “zip line” Cal and Alex had had built on one side of their living room. The kids (wearing Santa’s helper hats) would climb the five steps up to a small platform and straddle the seat. Then someone would hand them a gift and they’d announce “present for (whomever) from Santa” and ride down the zip line and tumble off (with the gift) into a box filled with brightly decorated foam cubes. What fun!
To keep this short as possible, I won’t go into all the gifts exchanged and received. I’ll just say it was an excellent Christmas and the kids all got their most wanted items. One highlight was the Apple watches the Grands gave each of the kids. They absolutely love them!
We wrapped up the holiday at the lake and headed home on Saturday so we’d be back in time to go the Chiefs’ game on Sunday. xoxo David
From Keon:
The Chiefs played the Chargers on Sunday and we took the kids (first game at Arrowhead for most of them). There were 14 of us, but no Bella who was adamant that “sitting out there freezing your tush off is just stupid.”
It was cold indeed, but we were all bundled up like Eskimos and the excitement of the game kept us decently warm. Of course a 31-21 victory and the news of New England’s defeat by the lowly Miami Dolphins helped. We’re all super-pumped at the Chiefs’ prospects for the playoffs – and soccer fan that I am, I have to admit that watching Mecole Hardman run a kickoff back for 104 yards is pretty damned exciting! xoxo Keon
From Ben:
Since David covered Christmas at the lake and Keon told you about the Chiefs’ game, I’ll tell you about New Years Eve.
Ty, Damien and Austin invited the kids over to their house to celebrate the New Year with movies, fireworks at midnight and a sleep-over in their media room. Since the kids were away, David and I invited Keon, Rick, Cal and Alex over for pizza, margaritas, smoke and fun in the hot tub. That afternoon, Chad called and wanted to know what our plans were. I told him and he said “O.K. if Raef and I join you?” I said “Sure! We would have invited you but didn’t know how Raef would feel about our ‘activities’ “. He laughed and said “How about if we come over and if Raef gets uncomfortable we can leave early.” So after dinner and drinks and lots of smoke, there were eight of us naked in the hot tub when our phones started ringing and the kids called to wish us a “Happy New Year.” Obviously our “activities” didn’t offend Raef because he and Chad did not leave early. After the hot tub, we spread quilts out on the living room floor, turned out the lights and jumped in a big naked pile. I couldn’t possibly think of a more wonderful way to bring in 2020! xoxo Ben