This year Bob and I decided to have a Christmas "Open House". This is our fifth year to celebrate Christmas here in New York . . .
What an adventure when we moved across country, from California to New York, in December of 2004. We left most of our possessions stored in California arriving in New York with just the bare minimums. We were fortunate to rent a furnished duplex from a snowbird and were quite comfortable that first winter. Our search for a home soon began looking at numerous homes that we thought would be perfect, non of which fulfilled our list of must haves. Then one of our church members told us about a house on County Route. It wasn't for sale, but it was vacant. Bob immediately drove by the house and saw the possibilities. I wasn't quite so sure this was "the" house for us. Bob had no questions at all about this being the perfect house. I think he would have been happy with just the two old barns and the 59 acres. But, the house was a nice bonus for me. So in April of 2005 we purchased the home and began renovations while living in our travel trailer on the property. Although the renovations weren't complete, we moved into the house in December of 2005 and celebrated our first Christmas in our "new" home.
During the renovations, several neighbors and county officials came by to see the progress being made on the old house. It was only as a result of numerous friends and family pitching in to help with the renovations that we are comfortably living with the inside of our home complete.
With the milestone of the inside completion, we decided to have an open house and invite our neighbors, county officials (the former owner of our home was the county clerk and people would come to the house to buy their hunting licenses, fishing licenses, marriage licenses, etc), and those that worked on the house.
It was fun to decorate the house for Christmas. The day of the open house we had about 15 inches of snow and it snowed all day. Bob had to blow the driveway and a place for people to park. Several people that had called to let us know they would be coming, weren't able to make it due to the bad weather. We had 27 people come and everything turned out wonderful! Bob got up early and made apple pies, lemon meringue pies, and pecan pies. We had lots of homemade goodies for the table that looked beautiful. And, I was so busy greeting people and talking, I didn't take one picture.
I made a scrapbook of the before and after pictures of the house for people to look through if they wanted. Many of the guests enjoyed just relaxing and visiting. The former owner of the home came and he and his wife had a great time walking through the house (it was his mother that was the clerk). He also wanted to take a look in the basement, and I opened the door and told him to go on down, he probably would remember the way around. They were so pleased that the house had been restored. The commented that they could tell it is a very loved home, which is so true.
When the last guests left, Bob and I sat down on the couch and just relaxed. It had been a very busy day.
The snow has continued to come down non-stop. We have had more that we need. Yesterday, Ryan and Lisa and the boys and Shannon and Madeline were heading to Pennsylvania to meet Natalie and Adam to go snow skiing. Natalie called them and told them that they wouldn't have made it to the house they are staying at if they hadn't had four-wheel drive. So Ryan and Lisa borrowed our SUV with four-wheel drive and left their mini van with us.
Today Bob and I have been busy getting everything ready for the arrival of our children and grandchildren. We wish all of them could come, but we're happy that at least four of the eight children will be coming and ten of our 18 grandchildren will also be here for Christmas. I completed my menus for the next seven days and then Bob and I were going to run out and pick-up a few more groceries before we headed to the airport to pick-up Mike and Vickie and the children. We have to take two vehicles because we don't have enough seats in just one vehicle.
When we went out to get in the van to go to the grocery store, that's when the trouble began. The keys were on the driver's seat and the doors were all locked. Now what? Bob wrote down the VIN number and I called a local dealership to see if they could make a key. They said I would have to bring in proof that the vehicle belonged to me. That wouldn't work. It wasn't my car. So I told him the l-o-n-g sad s-t-o-r-y and when I finished, he told me to come on down and he'd have a key ready for me.
While we were picking up the last few groceries Bob received a call from Mike. They were at the O'hara Airport and their flight had been cancelled. Now, four hours after their expected arrival, they are still in Chicago waiting for a flight to New York.
The stockings are all hung on the fireplace . . .
The tree is all decorated, the presents all wrapped and under the tree . . .
And, the lights in the windows are ready to welcome our family home for Christmas . . .
Bob and I are so excited that soon the house will no longer be quiet and everything in it's place. Life as we enjoy it will soon begin.
It snowed quite a bit today. It sure is beautiful. But, it wasn't much fun to drive in today. On my way home from shopping, I pulled over to clean off the ice from the wiper blade and broke it, so I had to look out the passenger side of the windshield whilte I drove home. The roads were really bad. When I got home, Bob fixed the wiper. It wasn't broken, it had just come off the end of the arm. It looked broken to me!
The tracks I made pulling into the driveway this afternoon are now covered with snow.