In our household, there are at least two meanings to the word family. I suppose that it’s about time to explain two of them….the first one is the obvious one: genetic family…you know, Mom, Dad, Cousins, etc. The second one is the Denver Family, or the family that we refer to when we are going to Family Dinner (which is held once a week). It’s comprised of the folks that used to live in the Columbine House (where Ahna lived before we got married), and their respective partners in crime life. 

The Denver Family all got together yesterday to celebrate the holidays. We met up at Gabe and Charlotte’s new house in the Whittier neighborhood of Denver (just north and a little west of City Park) for a mid-afternoon dinner, gift exchange, and white elephant gift exchange. Each year we draw names to purchase/make something for; and this year we added the White Elephant aspect to the party. For the real gifts, Ahna got some homemade tea mixes from Claire (with homemade pouches to hold it), and I got a couple of gifts from Tori including a photo frame with pics of Ezra (for work) and the newspaper front pages from Obama’s victory…something to put in a safe place to share with Ezra. 

The White Elephant exchange was fun…as there was much stealing of gifts, conspiring to end up with stuff, and disappointment that you ended up with something potentially worse that you came with. For example, I wrapped up a CD of Alan Jackson (that someone had given to me as a joke), and ended up taking home a pair of salt and pepper shakers that are in the shape of a cowboy boot and painted to look like the Texas flag. Oh boy. Ahna ended up with a nice sent of plates that we might actually be able to use…..

The attendance at Family Dinner varies from meal to meal due to work, travel, life, etc….but when everyone gets together – like yesterday – it’s a wonderful reminder of how much fun it is to be with everyone at the same time. Can’t wait for the next one…

On Sunday afternoon we were able to enjoy an afternoon at my parent’s house to celebrate the final day/night of Hanukkah. Our travels and work schedules meant that this was the first and only opportunity to be together during the holiday, so we were thankful that it worked out the way that it did. 

We had a good meal of latke and apple sauce (or ketchup for some of us), enjoyed opening some gifts, and lit the menorah. 

Special On The Road Edition: West Salem

Ezra’s first Christmas has come and gone. I know it has only been one day, but it’s weird to think that the next time that we will be doing this, he is going to be 1.5 years old. 

The weather continues to be wintery….it snowed more last night, probably another couple-3 inches, with more precip on the way today. We enjoyed a perfect day yesterday……we woke in the morning and opened the gifts that Santa left for everyone right away. Some folks then went over to church, and the rest of us lounged around the house for a while. Following services, we opened the gifts that we got for each other. All of us really enjoyed having the kids around, playing with each other, and sharing gifts with everyone (Johnathan and Isaac got a Wii Sport, which quickly turned into the family activity of the afternoon. Everyone got up and played something, including boxing, golf, tennis, and bowling. Okay, I admit….it’s pretty darn fun).

As the evening approached, it became a little clearer that Ezra might be coming down with a little sickness. He got really congested and stuffy, and a lot of crap down his throat. Turns out that the evidence quickly turned to reality and conviction, and the night was a long one for all of us. He is acting is normal self this morning, but the sickness is in full force. Hopefully we are able to help him through it during the plane flight. Otherwise…….well, it’s only 2 hours, right?

Special On The Road Edition: West Salem

Last night we went to Christmas Eve services at Dave’s church. They were as good as ever, and the sermon held some special thoughts this season. Ezra fell asleep in KJ’s arms during the service, but awoke just as we began singing Silent Night with the sanctuary lit up by candlelight. After the service, we stepped outside to walk home, and were greeted with sub-zero temperatures, a cold wind, and lots of snow. As everyone got home, the kids went outside and spread around some Reindeer food….could it get any more Rockwell-ian?

Family shots, Johnathan is a little sick, Nora and Isaac dancing, and Isaac meditates.

Special On The Road Edition: West Salem

Yesterday a new Christmas tradition was started in the Bersagel household…skiing. And it was good. After several consecutive days of snow, and an early season that dropped a 50 inch base; we headed over to Mt. LaCrosse for a day of turns. 

Johnathan and Isaac went into a lesson: it was their second time skiing and first in about a year. Jamie, KJ, Matthew and I hit the slopes together. For Jamie and KJ it was the same year off that the boys had. For Matthew, it was more like 10 years. And to drop into the first run off of the first chair onto a blue and with 8 inches of fresh powder….they did great. Not that the Colorado resorts  have been bad this year (they have gotten almost 5 feet this month), but it’s interesting to think that I had to travel to Wisconsin to get a great powder day.

I was able to rent telemark gear at the base, which was nice since I was actually a little nervous about the thought of stepping into alpine stuff for the first time since I made the transition. The attire was something to behold: jeans with a snow shell over them (borrowed from Jamie, and a size or three too big), a sweatshirt as the main thermal layer under my fleece jacket, teal and fuschia colored gloves, my hat, ear muffs from Matthew, and white 10-year old goggles. The thing about it was that I was warm, and had a great time. Who cares about the clothing? Well, normally I admit that I do to some degree….but it was easy to set aside those thoughts and just have fun. 

KJ and the boys headed home after their lesson was finished, but Jamie, Matthew and I stayed and skied for a while longer; then enjoyed some food and some beer in the St. Bernard Room in the lodge. The resort boasted a vertical drop of some 615ft, around 15 trails (two blacks), and three lifts (all double chairs from 30 years ago). The lodge was the perfect size for the hill – and the parking lot matched. I estimate that there were no more than 200 people on the entire mountain while we where there, and I don’t think that I saw anyone on the ski patrol that was under 40. Seriously, it was perfect. Like an Arapahoe Basin of the LaCrosse area. I loved it. 

Special On The Road Edition: West Salem

As our first full day in West Salem with the family developed, we soon realized that possibly the greatest gift that we were going to receive was watching the cousins interacting and playing with each other. All of the elders in the cousin crowd: Johnathan -7, Isaac -4, and Nora -2, were playing with each other and with Ezra. They were showing him the ways of all of the toys, how to use each new item, and making him smile….which was their primary objective. It is really neat to see it all unfold. 

Special On The Road Edition: Minneapolis To Iowa To West Salem

So after some mind-clearing breakfast yesterday morning we set out for the farm in Iowa to visit with Ahna’s grandmother and Aunts. The side roads were at times difficult, but the interstate was surprisingly clear. The lack of melting on the roads is a different phenomenon than what we encounter in Colorado since the temp almost immediately gets above freezing after a storm…and generally the roads clear pretty quickly. But not here in the upper-midwest, where cold is very cold, and for a long while. 

We got to the farm just before lunchtime, and just before two other vans pulled in: KJ, Jamie, Johnathan, and Isaac in one of them, and Dave and Mary Jo in the other. We enjoyed a wonderful afternoon at the farm, with a ‘typical’ amazing meal of which at least a couple recipes were requested. 

We left the farm in the late afternoon to begin the 3+ hour drive to West Salem. The original intent was for all three cars to huddle together and break trail in unison, but after a quick meal in Albert Lea, we all separated for different reasons (we stayed behind for a little while to feed Ezra). The roads themselves were pretty good, but the drive seemed to take extra long because it was the end of a long day of lots of driving. 

We awoke this morning to more cold temps: like -12 or -15….and several inches of new snow. To quote some family from yesterday “they know how to do Christmas here.”

Special On The Road Edition: Minneapolis

The holiday journey to the midwest has begun. Yesterday we flew into the Twin Cities on the heels of a airplane accident in Denver, and a blizzard in Minnesota. It appears like we were lucky enough to miss both events, although the consequences of both affected our travel: delays in Denver (not much, however) and adjusting our trip to stay in the cities. 

It was a fairly easy plane trip, but the car rental was the interesting part of the day: if you are looking for a minivan to hold a couple of families, don’t rent a Sierra from Alamo. Both of the vans that they tried to give us had middle-row seat problems, and both of them had a full middle-row of seats….so it would be nearly impossible to get into the backseat with two car seats in that middle row. After some deliberation and several attempts at different cars, we ended up with a Dodge and everything seems to be okay. PS: it was -1 actual temperature when we were trying to get all of this figured out. 

After we got the car, we went and picked up Kari, Matthew, and Nora from the other terminal and headed for the hotel. The roads around here are really rough due to the snow and temperatures, so we decided to stay in the cities and wait for the morning to attempt travel. Attached to the hotel is an Outback Steakhouse, which is where we headed for dinner. I only mention that because there were 5.5 vegetarians attempting to eat dinner at an Outback….and somewhat surprisingly, we were able to pull it off. 

We awoke this morning to more bad roads and temperatures in the neighborhood of -12. The decision that lies before us is whether to make the 2 hour drive to West Salem, or the 2 hour drive to the farm. It’s a matter of roads being plowed, interstate versus secondary streets, etc, etc, etc. Perhaps some breakfast will clear our minds a little. Perhaps not. 

Here is a quick shot from last night: