The cold, cold day after Christmas we packed into our little blue Saturn and turned its nose towards Harrisonburg, Virginia, for the Schrock portion of our holidays. We stopped in Goshen, Indiana, the first night, at the home of Steve and Cheryl Hochstetler-Shirk (why, oh why didn't I take any pictures?!) (oh yes, I was trying to not die of the worst cold I've had in a while). It was so wonderful to catch up a bit with them again; it was just over 11 years ago that Steve picked me up in the middle of the night in Zaporozhye from my very first bus ride in Ukraine.
Back to the present...after two 11-12 hour days of driving, we arrived at Ramont's parents' home in Harrisonburg on Friday evening. We spent the next day relaxing (Ramont was trying not to die from a flu and cold), waiting for the cousins and aunts/uncles to trickle in.
Ranene and Joseph, who live nearby, were the first to come. Their kids, Noelle and Josiah, are a few years older than ours but SUCH patient and kind playmates. Here they catch a glimpse of the ways of the world :)
Radell and his friend, Angela, arrived in time for lunch, while Ravonn and Rudi came in time for supper. Here we are - the entire family together! - at the evening feast.
The highlight (for everyone, I think) of the Christmas evening was enacting the Christmas story. Ramont's mom had sewn amazing little outfits for all the characters, and his dad told the story for memory and led singing at the appropriate times. The kids seemed to realize that this was a "real" thing, and really paid attention to the story and their parts in it. Jonathan was a shepherd and later a king, together with his cousins Greta and Sophie. Anna was an all-purpose angel.
Grandpa Schrock tells the story, flanked by Joseph and two shepherds.
Prior to this, the menfolk drew strings to see whose would have the donkey tail on it, and thus oblige him to be the donkey in the play. Joseph was the lucky guy this year.
The angel Gabriel appears to Mary (Noelle) while at work sweeping the floor.
The entire cast waiting for the story to begin (obviously my pictures are out of order).
The shepherds and angel learn of the good news.
The wise people come bearing gifts.
[isn't this fun?]
And so went the Christmas story. What fun it was, and what great memories to go home with!
The next day was Sunday, so we all went to Zion Mennonite Church, where Ramont's dad gave the sermon. In the afternoon we drove to Uncle Arland and Aunt Esther's beautiful home in the woods for a wider Schrock gathering with a tremendous amount of good food. Then back home in the evening to watch a rather exciting football game and just hang out.
The next day we all toured Ranene and Joseph's new-ish farm home just north of Harrisonburg.
Jonathan and Anna were very impressed with Josiah's two sheep and Noelle's chickens.
For Jonathan, the highlight of the whole trip was FINALLY getting to ride Uncle Radell's "new" tractor. Here Grandpa Schrock gets ready to take him for a ride.
Clearly the climate in Virginia is a bit different from Minnesota's. It rained a bit, was in the 30s and 40s, and was surprisingly green(ish).
Back at home, most of the kids took a dip in the jet tub and had a great time of it.
On Tuesday morning we began the long trek home. And to be honest, it wasn't all that daunting. Our kids were/are SUCH good travelers: patient, imaginative, non-puking (this time), and quite non-complaining about being strapped into car seats for hours and days at a time. Our car and tires flew over the 2500 miles without complaint. The hotel on the way home had a nice warm swimming pool.
We ran into the beginnings of a blizzard the first night of our trip home, and then another one the next morning, driving through Chicago. But the road-clearing crews were pretty impressive (esp. since it was New Year's eve and day).
And so, we made it home safe and sound, and extremely grateful for the time we had.
Happy new year!
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