Christmas Report - 2002

Posted on January 2nd, 2003 at 12:00pm by Phil

For the first time since 1996, the Routly’s would be celebrating Christmas as a family! And to make it really special, this included Maia, Dave’s wife, and their twin sons, Bren and Jace (20 months). All it would take was a 52-hour drive from Calgary to Atlanta!

Thursday, December 19

We couldn’t leave until 10:30 at night, since Chris had to have his traditional Survivor Finale party. Actually, we all enjoyed it, and he had predicted that Brian would win it all. Check out his web site at www.thesketchpad.net.

With Elsie half awake/half asleep beside me, and Melodie and Chris asleep on the bench seats of our ’96 Aerostar, I had the privilege of driving for the first eight hours, while listening to the Kathy Reich’s latest book, Grave Secrets. Since the summer, I had either read or listened to each of her earlier Temperance Brennan novels, enjoying each one, even though they are rather graphic when it comes to her forensic anthropologist activities (http://literati.net/Reichs).

It was a great night for driving and listening!

Friday, December 20

Arriving in Regina at 6:30 AM brought a short stop at Tim Horton’s, and I crawled into the middle seat, with Elsie in the back, while Chris got behind the wheel, with Melodie beside him. During our summer drive to Ontario, Melodie had introduced us to Lemony Snicket and the first two books of the very entertaining Series of Unfortunate Events (www.lemonysnicket.com). Before leaving Calgary, we had been able to obtain books 3 to 7 on tape, so at the first opportunity, The Wide Window went into the player.

It wasn’t long until Elsie and I were falling asleep, but it suddenly began to snow, accompanied by wind and ice on the road. About an hour east of Regina, I found myself praying for safety, and I sat up just as wind, snow and ice coincided. The rear of the car began to slide right, and the spin took us backwards at 80 KPH, taking us across the oncoming lane, down a bank about 75 yards through about 3 feet of snow, so far onto the passenger side that the spring-loaded mirror was folded back and the running board cap ripped off. But, as we came to a stop, we felt a hand push us back to vertical, and there we sat. The only explanation for our safety is clearly the hand of God. A cell-phone call to 911 put us in contact with CAA, and within 15 minutes, a tow truck arrived. The driver first dug around the van, then anchored his truck, hooked up his cable, and winched us out. I got back behind the wheel, and we were once again on our way – none the worse for wear. Thank you, Lord, and thanks to our friends who are praying for our trip!

The weather slowed us down considerably, and we did stop in Brandon to buy snow tires. As we were approaching Winnipeg, about 4 hours behind schedule, we contacted our friends, Dave and Karen Oldford, and arrived at their home at 5 o’clock. They welcomed us in their usual way, giving us the opportunity to check weather conditions, get some rest, and enjoy a pizza feast. By 7 PM, we felt the weather was clear enough that we were able to head south, and that by heading for St. Louis instead of Chicago, we could avoid another storm. So, we were on our way – cautiously until we had passed through Grand Forks. By then we were past the snow and ice, and back up speed. Chris and Melodie had been resting, and were ready to drive through the rest of the night.

Saturday, December 21

So, on we went! Through Fargo, ND, and getting to Sioux Falls, SD around sunrise.

On to Omaha, NE and breakfast at Cracker Barrel (www.crackerbarrel.com), our favourite breakfast place! How we wish they were in Canada! Anyway, we were quickly back on the road, through Kansas City, MS, and St. Louis by sundown. On to Mt. Vernon, through Paducah, KY, and Nashville, TN around midnight. We didn’t see much, but we did cover a lot of real estate this day!

Sunday, December 22

Considering how far we had come, we were almost there, so we kept on the move. Through Chattanooga, and on to Atlanta, arriving at Dave and Maia’s at 4 AM after a drive of almost 4100 KM. Not bad – very tired – all under the same roof – off to bed – ready for a long sleep – no church today!

Of course, we didn’t sleep too late – mostly because Chris was sleeping in the living room, and there were two little boys wanting breakfast! Chris and Melodie had never met Bren and Jace, so they were both up early. Elsie and I had been in Atlanta for their first birthday in April.

For obvious reasons, this proved to be a pretty relaxed day. Maia was off for the day, so we could spend it together. In the afternoon, we went out to get a Christmas tree, and to finish up some shopping for the boys.

After supper, our friends, Case and Janet Koolhaas, dropped in for a few minutes. We had known them from Langley, where Case had planted Emmaus Christian Fellowship, and had met again at the Oasis Retreat in October. That was when we realized that their daughter and son-in-law were living very close to Dave and Maia’s home in Sugar Hill. It really IS a small world, you know.

After the boys were off to bed, it was time to decorate the Christmas tree.

Monday, December 23

Dave was off to work early at Pfizer, as usual. He had recently replaced his unreliable Mercury Mystique with a Toyota Prius – a very interesting hybrid car, that automatically switches back and forth between gas and electric (http://www.toyota.com/html/shop/vehicles/prius/). Driving it is really cool – when you stop at a traffic light, the engine completely shuts down! Step on the accelerator, and the electric motor gets you moving, the gas engine starts up, and away you go! While you’re driving, there is a monitor, like a small computer screen, that constantly monitors your fuel efficiency and several other factors.
Jace especially loves getting in the car and playing with everything there is to play with, but Bren enjoys it, too. (Why is there a pacifier on the windshield? So the driver knows when to stop when driving into the garage.)

Tuesday, December 24

Christmas Eve – er, Day. Oh, whatever! Maia would have to work on the 25th, so for us, this was Christmas Day! After all, Bren and Jace would never know. They had a great time opening their presents during the morning, and we all enjoyed playing with them and their toys throughout the day. Pictures speak louder than words.

We enjoyed the Christmas Eve service at Perimeter Church (www.perimeter.org), where Dave and Maia attend, returned home, put Bren and Jace to bed, and then it was time for the adults to open their gifts. Our family tradition has always been to enjoy some special food on Christmas Eve, and this year was no exception, as Dave brought home some lettuce wraps and hot wings from Chili’s. It seems the only constant through all these years is Elsie’s special eggnog! While we have usually opened only one gift on Christmas Eve (Elsie is always accused of making sure it’s pajamas…), Maia’s family opens everything, and that’s what we did.

Wednesday, December 25

Christmas Day! Thank you, Jesus, for coming to our world!

Things were pretty quiet, but there was still lots of playing, as Chris and Melodie were getting to know their nephews. After lunch, we all climbed into our van for the drive to visit Maia at Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta. Afterwards, we drove through downtown, and stopped at the Martin Luther King Memorial.

Of course, Bren and Jace were missing their afternoon nap, so…

Dave and Maia had OD’d on turkey at Thanksgiving, so for the first time in our lives we had roast beef for Christmas dinner.

Thursday, December 26

In Canada, this would have been Boxing Day. Both Dave and Maia had the day off, so we were once again all together for the entire day, and we were able to relax – and play!

With Chris, Dave and Maia, I was also able to enjoy Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (www.lordoftherings.net). Since renting Fellowship of the Rings a couple of months ago, I had begun to read the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy, and become a fan. What a fascinating imagination he had, and how faithfully Peter Jackson has brought it to the screen! I can hardly wait until this second installment comes to DVD, and the final one comes to theaters in December, ’03! What an epic.

Friday, December 27

With Dave at work for the day, the rest of us went to Discover Mills (www.discovermills.com) in Lawrenceville. While we were there, Maia introduced us to Cold Stone ice cream (www.coldstonecreamery.com), where they mix your choice of ice cream and ingredients on refrigerated marble, to make some of the best we’ve ever tasted. What a neat concept!

Saturday, December 28

Elsie and I had the opportunity to begin a new tradition with Bren and Jace, that we hope to continue every time we see them – we took them to one of our favourite Atlanta restaurants, On The Border (www.ontheborder.com). With Maia at work, Dave, Chris and Melodie went to Atlanta Underground (www.underatl.com), and then World of Coca Cola (www.woccatlanta.com).

Sunday, December 29

I had been in touch with Dan Reiland, Executive Pastor at Crossroads Community Church (www.crossroadsconnect.com) in Lawrenceville, about a ministry opportunity as Pastor of Lay Ministry. Since it’s only 15 minutes from Dave and Maia’s home in Sugar Hill, Elsie, Melodie and I headed there for their early service. It was a truly excellent and inspiring experience. For many reasons, this would be our dream opportunity – not the least of which is the proximity to four + very special people. Then, we caught up with Dave, Maia, Bren, Jace and Chris at Perimeter, before heading to Bahama Breeze (www.bahamabreeze.com) for lunch. The food had great variety, and we had a marvelous time.

Monday, December 30

Dave was back to work, and Maia was studying, so this was kind of a relax-and-enjoy-the-twins day.

Elsie and Melodie had the idea of creating pictures of Bren and Jace’s hands and feet – so, they painted on the watercolor, and took their prints!

BTW, if you haven’t been able to figure it out, Bren is usually dressed in Blue, and Jace in … whatever. So, Bren got the Blue feet, and Jace the Green. What do you do when one is in yellow and the other in red, like they are in these pictures? Either you paint their feet… or, when they get dressed, just etch their colors on your mind for the day! They could have DNA tests done to determine whether or not they are identical, but why bother? They’re pretty much the same size, have the same amount and colour of hair, and their feet and hands are the same shape. Any questions? Now, can you go back and identify them in each picture?

Tuesday, December 31

Already, the day of our departure had arrived. We were expecting a couple of parcels (late Christmas gifts), but by 11 they still hadn’t been delivered, so it was time to go, and we very reluctantly said goodbye, not knowing when we would be all together again. By noon, we were through Atlanta, and heading for Chattanooga. Our return trip took us north, through Knoxville, Lexington, Indianapolis, and Chicago. Before leaving Atlanta, we had stopped at Krogers, and picked up some goodies to bring in the New Year. At midnight, we had passed through Chicago, pulled over for fuel, and enjoyed some great shrimp and other appy-style food.

Wednesday, January 1, 2003

On to Madison, Torah, Minneapolis and brunch just before Fargo. Unfortunately, we had passed all the Cracker Barrels, and had to settle for second (or third) best at Perkins. We connected with the Oldford’s in Winnipeg, arrived there at 3 PM, enjoyed a wonderful New Years dinner with Dave, Karen and their family, and watched a really bizarre movie, “Kung Pow: Enter The Fist,” (www.kungpowmovie.com). Look at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/KungPow-1110958/ - it gets 8%, and Roger Ebert writes, “Not since Freddy Got Fingered has a major release been so painful to sit through.” However, we followed this up with Nicole Kidman’s “The Others,” (www.theothers.com), a very interesting, somewhat scary, and much better film (it received 81% on rottentomatoes).

Thursday, January 2

We hit the road early, so we could arrive in Brandon shortly after 8 AM, to pick up the all-season tires we had stored there, and had an uneventful drive the rest of the way. When we passed the spot where we had spun off the road, we realized that if we had gone another 50 yards, we would have been into a culvert and stream, and our Christmas would have been very different. Once again, thank you Lord, and thank you to all our friends (especially in our small group) for your prayers.

Without further incident, we arrived home at 9:30 PM. During our trip, we had covered 8692.5 KM, experienced parts of the US we had never seen before, listened to taped books by Kathy Reichs and Tom Clancy (Rainbow Six), and seven (!) books by Lemony Snicket. More importantly, we had spent 14 quality days with Chris and Melodie.

What a great holiday this was! It was the first time we were all together – the eight of us – ever. Chris and Melodie got to meet Bren and Jace. We celebrated the Lord’s birth. And we had some very memorable experiences.

Oh – I have to mention Squiggle. When Dave and Maia sent out their Christmas letters, they signed them, “Dave, Maia, Bren, Jace, and Squiggle.” There is a new little one on the way, due in May. On Friday, January 2, Maia had an ultrasound, and … it’s another boy. Praise the Lord! (I guess it’s too early to start thinking about giving us a granddaughter, isn’t it?)

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