I really enjoyed celebrating Christmas this year. It was the first time in over 30 years that I spent Christmas with my father. It was also the first time in nine years that he got to see his grandson, Marcus.

Before their arrival, we decorated the house inside and out. The finishing touch was a 10-foot Christmas tree set in the turret section of the living room…a perfect spot!

It started snowing on Wednesday, December 17th and continued on the 18th. Marcus was due to arrive that evening. The interior roads were covered with snow and ice and the Shuttle Express from the airport was only running to hotels. I worried how Marcus would reach us once he landed. We tried to go pick him up, but started sliding all over the road before we were a few blocks from the house, so we turned back. I told Marcus to take the shuttle to the University Inn…a hotel about 1.5 miles from the house. I expected him to get a room for the night and we would figure things out the next day. He surprised me…at midnight he showed up at the door, having walked from the hotel with is very large suitcase.

Daddy arrived that Sunday, Dec. 21st. It had snowed again so there was still no way to drive our car to pick him up. Daddy is almost 72 and was already nervous about traveling by himself. I worried about him getting stranded. As luck would have it, Marcus was down in Tacoma with friends the night before and said they were on their way home righ around the time daddy was due to arrive. He talked his friends into stopping to pick his grandfather up and they arrived safely (being dropped off at the top of our hill where roads were slightly better).

We were house-bound for several days, so Tora and I baked dozens of cookies of several varieties, so the house smelled really good…fresh baked cookies combined with the smell of pine. We had to walk to the store a few times since it was to dangerous to drive…a three-mile round trip. The walk was nice, but difficult when you’re carrying bags of groceries and trying not to slip on the ice. We saw several people using their cross-country skis to get around.

I took daddy to see his very first theater show (You Can’t Take It With You) and he really enjoyed it. We also went to the Seattle Aquarium with Marcus. I also got to record several of daddy’s memories.

Wanda and Bill joined us on the Saturday after Christmas for brunch and the opening of presents. Snow prevented them from coming on Christmas day. Marcus went home the following day.

I took daddy to a studio to get some pictures taken on the day before he went home. It wasn’t your typical posed portraits. Alyssa likes to have her subjects move around. Daddy really got into it (a big surprise) and did silly poses and made funny faces. I haven’t heard him laugh so much or seen him act so silly since I was a little kid. I can’t wait to see the photos!

When I left daddy at the airport for his return home, he started to cry, which got me all teared up. I will miss him a lot and hope it’s not my last Christmas with him.