The Best Christmas

No lie.  I SO wish I could post short, simple highlights about the Holiday weeks.  Just a snippit here and there, a picture or two.  Alas!  Being's that this is a quasi journal, I shall elaborate for the benefit of forthcoming generations.  Who may or may not be grateful for random tidbits of trivial information I generally post on my blog.  But never fear, what follows are witty remarks and an amazing Christmas story.  I promise.  Grab some wassail, settle in and lets get started...

Christmas was awesome.  After the Jolley Christmas party on Christmas Eve, Cody and I came home, put the kids to bed and got busy wrapping many a gift for the boys.  Our friend Tracy came over and hung out while we watched Christmas Specials and listened to Christmas music.  It was great to see him!  He left in the wee hours and Cody and I were still wrapping...memo to me:  NEVER put off wrapping again.  Ever.  We were up until almost Dawn getting everything ready for the big reveal the next morning.  We got maybe 3 hours of sleep and awoke to the sounds of Cache playing with some toys that he got in his stocking.  Once Cole was up we put off breakfast and got right down to opening gifts.  The boys made quite the haul!  A roaring dinosaur from the Jolley Grandparents, a siren-blaring fire engine and a tent/tunnel fort that is set up (and currently taking up all of the space) in Cache's room.  The boys love it, they are like gerbils on Holiday in that thing.

After the mounds of wrapping paper were disposed of, I got busy making Christmas dinner for  my family.  I made a delicious turkey, my Mom brought mashed potatoes, we had rolls, vegetables...mmmm, it was so tasty.  After dinner we opened some gifts from the parents - they gave us food storage!  I know, it sort of sounds lame, but seriously?  Awesome.  We got 22 boxes of food.  It's a big relief to have a chunk of that taken care of.  And Cody's parents got us a fancy wheat grinder - we are set!  I was excited to give my parents some seasons from 'Moonlighting'.  Do you remember that show?  We used to watch it growing up, it'll be fun to see them again.

And NOW.  The piece de resistance.  The gift of gifts.  I was able to find (with loads of help from my rad Dad)  a video game that my brothers grew up playing.  My Dad bought it in...1984 or something for $100.00.  These were revolutionary at the time.  The game was kept in my brothers room for years, we all played it.  We had a house fire in 1993 and the majority of the damage was in my brothers room.  Sadly, the Vectrex fell prey to the heat of the fire and the poor game was melted like a cube of butter.  We took a picture of the warped machine for insurance...it was such a sad little photo!  When I told my Dad that I wanted to find a Vectrex for my brothers, he told me that I would have to pay quite the much to get one - probably around $250.  And that wouldn't even be for a complete system.  Steep!  I showed him a system I had found on eBay and he said he would do some searching, too.  A few days later I went up to the house and he called me into the study.  He showed me a Vectrex system he found.  It.  Was. Perfect.  The game was in mint condition, still in it's original box, came with all 17 games and an extra controller.  I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was - it was unreal to see a complete Vectrex system in such perfect condition.  I scrolled through the pictures in awe...just amazing.  My Dad told me that the price was $500, but he had emailed the seller and said, "My kids grew up playing this game.  We lost ours in a fire and my children are grown, I would love them to have this system again."  He offered $415.  So I asked, "Have you heard from him yet?"  My Dad said nothing, but scrolled to the top of the auction where it read, "Your bid of $415 has been accepted!  You are the winner!"  Aaaaahhh!  I jumped out of my chair and starting crying and hugging my Dad saying, "You got it!  You got it!!"  I was beyond ecstatic.  I was so happy, I can't even describe.  I couldn't wait to give it to Marty and Rich.

So, fast forward to post Christmas dinner at my house...I had wrapped the second controller and the actual Vectrex separately.  I had Rich open the controller first.  He started to tear off the paper and when he read 'Vectrex' he looked up at me and said, "no...way...is this for real!?  No...way...".  Then I told Marty that he could open his, but first he had to look on the top of the box.  I had my Mom make a copy of the melted Vectrex picture and I stuck that to the top of the present.  Marty looked at it and said, "Oh my gosh, no way!!  Really?!?!"  He tore open the paper and Marty and Rich kept saying, "No way, no way, oh my gosh, no way..."  It was SO FUN!!  This is what Christmas is about, people!!  While their mouths were open, I went and got the biggest box which was full of all the games.  They went through each game and exchanged memories and tips for each one.  They did that for 20 minutes.  Rich asked, "how in the world did you find this?"  I told them the story and again, burst into tears.  Rich was misty-eyed and said, "I am floored....I am just floored.  This is epic".  

After everyone had gone home and things had been put away, my Dad called.  He said, "I just had to call you so you could listen to the sounds of your brothers playing the Vectrex.  They have been playing for 2 hours straight, they have played every game..." In the background I could hear them hooting and laughing.  That made my Christmas.  And as far as I'm concerned?  Best Christmas ever.

The past few weeks we've been recovering from a glorious Holiday.  New Years Eve was simple but a complete blast.  We had the Fire Crew over and we talked and laughed for hours and kissed our spouses when the ball dropped.  They are such good people, we love them.  The next day Cody and I were able to go to lunch with Brad and Katie who were visiting from California.  It was so good to see them!  They are doing so well and we talked and laughed for a good two hours.  We promised that we would go down and see them this Summer - road trip!

Andrea and Scott were in town, but we hardly got to see them.  By the time we were actually able to hang out I don't think I was much fun - I was exhausted and burned out.  We went to dinner as a family and then went to see 'Yes, Man'.  On Friday we went to the Patch Family Lunch that we have every week.  It was great to see my Grandmother and all the little cousins ran around and got to hang out.

So, what now?  What to do after the glorious craziness that is Christmas?  I took down our tree yesterday...not too happy about that.   My house always looks so sad when Christmas is taken down, but it must be done.  There is more to talk about, but I think I've said enough for now.  It's amazing how much can happen in just a few weeks - hope you had a happy Holiday!