The last part of December was very cold, stormy and hectic. We were scheduled to go to North Carolina on the 20th for Christmas with Scott, Lisa, Evan and Morgan. We arrived at the airport in Minot at 9 a.m. only to be told 5 hours later that our flight into Minot had been canceled as it was snowing too much for the planes to land. We were very disappointed as we drove home in very stormy conditions and we had been rescheduled to fly out of Grand Forks 2 days later. Tuesday we drove to Grand Forks, stayed at the Fairfield Inn that night so we wouldn't miss our flight on Wednesday, and caught our flight the next morning. We made our connections and arrived at RDU (Raleigh/Durum) on time. Scott and family were waiting for us. It was so great to see all of them again. Scott had just flown in from Dubai as his flight from Iraq home had been diverted there due to the storm across Europe at the time. We were all happy to be there!
Christmas Eve was very sad for us as we got a call that Kathy McFarlen had passed away from her lung, liver and spine cancer--just 3 weeks to the day from when she was diagnosed. We were devastated! The day after Christmas, Lillington received about 7" of heavy, wet snow. The kids were ecstatic and so were Izzy & Dexter. We spent 3 days inside working on 2-1,000 piece puzzles...Lisa spent part of that time wiping ice chunks off the dogs. It was a fun time just to be together! One night we ate at the Crab Shack and that was a treat for us to have Dungeness crab...something we don't see where we live! Christmas Day we deep-fried (rather, Scott did) a whole turkey. It was a great treat and we served that with all the "fixins" as they say in the South! We flew back to GF on the 29th, met Brett for breakfast and drove back to the lake that afternoon.
We spent Thursday unpacking from that trip and packing the car for the trip South. Anne & Brent & kids met us at the A-Frame Thursday night and treated us to a great last dinner in ND. We left Friday morning despite the warnings that the roads were snow-covered and icy in spots. We headed to Bismarck, then west and south to Spearfish, SD. We lucked out and had great roads the whole way. We spent the night in Spearfish at the Fairfield Inn. It was New Year's Eve, but we were both in bed by 9 p.m.--exhausted!
Saturday we managed to drive to Castle Rock, CO, to McFarlens. It didn't seem like New Year's Day at all. It was so hard to be there without Kathy. We turned in early that night also. Sunday we went to church with Mac and spent the afternoon with all the kids making last-minute arrangements for Kathy's service on Monday. That evening Claudia & Bob Sladic had all of us over for a great Italian meal and an enjoyable visit.
Monday morning we were at the church shortly after 9. Kathy's service was beautiful. The music was awesome! Katie, Ryan and I gave the eulogies at the end of the service. That was one of the hardest things I've ever been asked to do. The church was packed and there wasn't a dry eye by the time the service was over. A great lunch was served before the grave-side service. It was a beautiful, sunny day in Castle Rock. After the burial, we went back to Mac's and celebrated Kathy's life with more good food and drink. We were so thankful we were able to get to CO for the service.
Tuesday morning we left for Albuquerque. Once again the roads were perfect! We arrived at Danny and Maxine's about 4 p.m. We had a great visit with them. Scott and Gretchen joined us for dinner. We left Albuquerque Wednesday morning and drove to Mesa. We arrived here in the late afternoon. After unpacking the car, we headed for the grocery store to "stock up" on the essentials as our cupboards were bare. We collapsed into bed about 9 p.m.
Wednesday we continued unpacking and putting things away and made another run to the grocery store and Superstition Mall. Gosh, it was good to get back there!
(to the mall, I mean) I don't think Gary shared my enthusiasm! Wednesday night we played cards with some neighbors. However, it never gets very late and that is fortunate as I am bushed by night!
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