A BAD CHRISTMAS 2008

It was wonderful to see Charlie, Devin and Bryan again. Devin took the shuttle from Rexburg to Provo and met up with Charlie and Bryan there. Charlie rented a white Pontiac Vibe and he and Devin drove straight through, leaving Bryan in the back seat to watch the snacks. Char says that at times there was so much snow blowing across the road he could only see the white line in the middle and not the yellow line on the side. They arrived in time for an only slightly delayed Sunday dinner—turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy. Charlie began downloading World of Warcraft almost as soon as he got home.

Mom tried to think of a delicate way to ask them to get their hair cut—she wanted to show them off at the family gathering in Marshfield on Saturday and again at church on Sunday, so she quickly wrote a new Christmas gift request on the white board: “boys to get haircuts, Mom will provide money.” Her first request was “Charlie, Devin, and Bryan home for Christmas.” Dad and the boys had all pitched in to make that one a reality and Mom was grateful. She handed out $20 to each of the boys on Monday. Christmas was coming up on Thursday.

Franklin had been counting the days until their arrival. Having figured out who Santa Claus is, that aspect of Christmas wasn’t as fun for him this year. Franklin did enjoy spending his allowance at the dollar store buying a gift for everyone except Dad. For Dad, he took Earl, his little gray pig, over to Game Stop and counted out his money to buy a used memory card. When he was done, he had three quarters left. He bought 2 gumballs and put the last one in the Salvation Army bucket.

Now, with his brothers home, Franklin anticipated many hours of Nintendo play. Right off the bat he and Dad challenged Charlie and Bryan to a game of Mario Kart Double Dash. Turns out, both Charlie and Bryan were gunners back in the day. With Franklin driving, he and Dad were able to win several rounds. (Editor: I would call it total, utter domination.)

Mom challenged the boys to a game of Tetris. This took some doing as Bryan and Devin had to set up the N64 again. It didn’t work until one of the boys remembered there was an expansion pack that had to be plugged in, but wait, wasn’t that loaned out? They were certain the spare had gotten broken. Devin dug through a pile of cords, controllers and miscellaneous parts. Aha! He found the original part—not the upgrade, but it was enough to make the machine work. Charlie, Devin and Bryan then proceeded to skunk Mom, who stayed at her previous level 3 rating while they dropped a level or so from the 9, 10 and 11 range.

There were a few last-minute shopping forays, made mostly by Mom. Bryan slipped a Sim Pets for DS under the tree for Franklin (but as Bryan would be sure to point out, that was purchased in Provo). Charlie and Bryan kept the washing machine running with three weeks worth of laundry each. “I was only going to bring a week’s worth of clothes,” said Bryan, “but Char told me to bring my laundry.” “Hey,” replied Char. “It’s free.”

World of Warcraft occupied a great deal of time. Charlie helped Franklin make a character and coached him through several quests. Char had gifted Devin early with a WOW account, so he played from the spare bedroom on his laptop. Bryan visited Tom Johnson nearly every night until Christmas, watching anime and taking short excursions to old stomping grounds.

The “Oh Santa,” Veggie Tales song was our Christmas play this year. Franklin, with Mom’s help, had found the words online. He and Dad printed out a copy for everyone and Franklin highlighted everyone’s part. Franklin had also written down the assignments on his whiteboard. Char would be Larry the Cucumber, Devin the Bank Robber, Bryan the Viking, Dad the Tax Collector, Mom would be Santa, and Franklin the narrator. We listened to the CD, practiced our lines, set 3 of Franklin’s gingersnaps on a plate (he and Mom had made a double-double batch earlier and frozen bags of a dozen each which Franklin had been pulling out and setting on a plate, a dozen cookies a day), and found bits and parts to make costumes. A red sweatshirt, a Santa hat, a belt, medieval garb. Great idea Franklin!

We had our traditional candlelight dinner of clam chowder and oyster crackers, Manhattan style for Mom. Devin suggested we light a candle for each sibling not present, so we did. They had sent their messages via email, and we took turns reading them. Bryan had to stick his fingers in and out of the flame of his candle, trying to encourage Franklin to do the same. Franklin, still experiencing some kind of internal shock the time he burned his finger on the single candle on his first birthday cake, grew rather agitated, which only fanned Bryan’s enthusiasm for pyro-display. Mom had earlier forced Charlie and Dad to concede that setting out the wine glasses was a good thing. They looked lovely in the candlelight, filled with a bubbly cranberry-soda mix. We took turns toasting each other and the year past and Christmas present. When the pitcher was empty, Tom brought out the coup de grás, the last bottle of Tahitian Noni juice he’d been saving since last Christmas. Not everyone was brave enough to toast with that. “My mother dilutes it with water,” commented Syl, adding, “I think it may have fermented since last year.” The boys let out a big cheer when they saw that Grandpa Andrus’ Christmas message was short this year. We took turns reading it, too.

We took two cars on our “ooh and ahhh” drive to look at the lights. There weren’t as many lights this year, it seemed. Mom speculated that with the cold snap right on Thanksgiving weekend, not as many people got out. Franklin had planned from the beginning to ride in the “kids car,” i.e., Mom’s car. Dad and Mom were prepared to pull over to make an emergency switch, but it worked out, even with Franklin and Bryan in the back seat together. The boys all picked a ‘handle’ to use over the walkie-talkies, calling Dad “The Man,” and Mom “Rabbit 7.” Their handles were all colors, but since it took Mom most of the drive to figure out who was whom, she doesn’t remember much except aquamarine, blue, and opal? Red?

We opened our family gifts when we got home, set a game or two from past Christmases under the tree and watched “It’s a Wonderful Life.” When everyone else was in bed, Charlie helped Mom stuff stockings, eat Rudolph’s carrot and leave a note for Franklin. Since Franklin had forgotten to set out the carrot, a little creativity was called for, but Charlie managed.
Mom stayed up even later helping the elves finish scarves for each of the boys. She woke Dad up about 1:00 AM and the two of them scattered Santa’s presents under the tree. This year she had to chase a 22-year-old child to bed, never a problem in years past when doors stayed shut and youngsters were in awe of Christmas night magic.

Christmas day was spent playing games and eating ham dinner and ham dinner leftovers. The Elders were over most of the day, taking turns making their phone calls home and sitting at the various board games. One Elder brought over a game called “Killer Bunnies,” which occupied a great deal of the afternoon. David had called first thing in the morning. He sounded cheerful and bright. Kristi and Jonas filmed a little segment of Dallin with Mr. Potato head—except that Dallin was more interested in some little pieces of Trident gum.

Devin shared with us a unique Christmas card made during one of his computer assignments. (Devin earned a 4.0 last semester, which at BYU-I means a full-tuition scholarship next semester!) He presses a little button and circuits on his board race to print out a Merry Christmas message and a thank you to his parents .

Monday was filled with Bryan’s last orthodontic/dental appointments as a dependent child. The washing machine was running again, and Mom took the boys out shopping (their Dad’s idea) for a clothing item or two as part of their Christmas. Charlie confessed that as an adult, he had begun to appreciate the gifts of clothing he found under the tree that had been so scorned as a kid. “Socks! Sweet! I need those, and I don’t think to get them for myself.”

At the mall, the three oldest boys try again to get that elusive haircut while Mom takes Franklin to find the bubble gum machines. “We can’t do it, Mom.” They are standing around her, half-stunned with sticker shock. “Fifteen bucks for a haircut! That’ll feed me for a week and a half!” “That’s okay,” says Mom. “Church is over and the trip to Marshfield was canceled. I don’t mind if you eat your haircuts.”

Bryan, who protests loudly that he can’t stand mother’s dog, finds time to toss her cheese bits and play tug of war. “Sticks have to go outside,” says the exasperated mother. Lady hangs onto the stick with her teeth while Bryan lifts her and the stick. “Look at her, she isn’t nearly as strong as she used to be,” says Bryan, lifting her up.

The visit is over so quickly. After Bryan picks up his new retainer at 3:15 PM on Tuesday, the boys load their laundry, luggage and presents into the car and disappear.

The next morning, Syl calls her mother, who tells her an Aunt has a cute picture on Facebook she should check out. That afternoon, waiting for Tom to get home from work, Syl checks it out, noting that Bryan’s profile has been updated 24 minutes earlier. “Bryan is in Provo, without his pillow,” it says. The boys are back safe.

Give him credit, Char does call much later, after a nap. Thank you, Char.