Christmas 2021 Visiting with Alex

We picked Alex up from St Denis shortly after his lunch on December 24th. He would be spending two days with us. He had not been back here in our house since the start of the pandemic in early 2019, nearly two years ago! The first thing he did when he entered the house was to make a beeline for the garage and peruse all his beloved videos. He removed all those plastic storage bins and did a thorough inspection and “inventory”.

After Alex went to bed that night, we brought down the gifts to open the next morning. Note that in deference to our creaking knees and difficulty in arising from the floors, Santa was wise and kind enough to leave the gifts on the chairs and not under the tree where crawling would be required for retrieval.

Notice Alex did like to wear the Santa hat I'd knitted, but only over his Green Bay Packers hat. He is wearing his 101 Dalmatians shirt, which Robin made for him. Alex got right into opening presents. And voila! Once he tore off the Santa Claus gift wrap he revealed a 36-piece giant pirate ship puzzle.

Frank is all decked out in the Christmas shirt Robin sewed for him and his HO! HO! HO! hat. He is eager to try out two escape puzzles that Santa left for him under the tree on the chair. 

 

To complete the trio, I, too, am wearing a shirt sewn by Robin. I was very pleased with the Brighton heart necklace I got from Frank. To show off the detailed hearts of the necklace, I hung it on the lampshade amidst my fashionista lady ornaments from Chico's.

We enjoyed our FaceTime calls to Robin’s family who were celebrating the holiday in Oklahoma City and to Dan’s family who were on a road trip to Denver. Our Christmas 2021 was a pleasant affair, connecting with all our children, even if only virtually with two thirds of them. It was a quiet peaceful Christmas… well, almost quiet and peaceful. Alas, there had been one minor mishap the previous night, after Alex had gone to bed Christmas Eve.

I had been sitting quietly reading in one corner of the family room. On the other side of the room, Alex’s 3-ft-tall, traffic light tube bank, which has resided for years in our family room, spontaneously shattered, scattering coins hither and yon with a horrendous noise. I nearly jumped out of my skin. Frank came rushing in from another room concerned about what had happened and wondering if I was hurt. Apparently, the once-clear plastic tube, now yellowed and brittle with age had given way when loaded to the brim with all those heavy metal coins. Maybe that’s why it made a cacophonous sound like heavy metal music when it crashed?

Frank shortened the tube and built a shorter makeshift replacement. The next day, Alex adjusted fine but I felt bad for him. That tall bank was a favorite of his. I will look into getting a longer, thicker tube from a plastics shop.

Sunday morning, the day after Christmas we went bowling before taking Alex back to St. Denis. He and Frank are posing, wearing their snazzy new Christmas-themed shirts. Frank's has cats with Santa hats and Christmas trees; Alex's has figures of Santa, trains, and children playing in the snow. We had a great Christmas with Alex; Frank and I believe he also enjoyed his time in his childhood home with his familiar tapes, puzzles, and banks. MERRY CHRISTMAS!