Vacations are like that. They're temporal. They always end. For many of us Erichsen-Websters, this past week has been full-on vacation mode. Gerald and Mathew still had to work, but for those of us involved in education, in the past five or six days, we have given little thought to school. And it's been lovely.
Eli and Amanda arrived Tuesday evening on break from BYU-Idaho in Rexburg. It was so great to have them both with us much of the week. Here they are at Temple Square:
Shulamith and I cooked most of Wednesday, in prep for Thursday's feast, so Thursday, itself, was mostly chill, filled with some Netflix binging (How much Survivor can you watch in one day, Eli and Amanda?), relaxing, and lots and lots of eating!
About twice a year, we actually all sit around the table and eat together, and Thanksgiving is one of those rare occasions. Here are some pics of my cute kids:
The Webster-Monsons
Isaiah and Seth, post-dinner Dominion game
These two, though. They don't look at all happy together, do they?
And then it happened. The cooking was over. The feast was finished. It was time. Time for an annual event that defines and culminates Thanksgiving weekend for Shulamith and me: Black Friday shopping! No judging allowed here. If you don't go to stores on Thanksgiving, that is totally great. But we do, and that is okay too. And this year, it wasn't even crowded. Did all the boycotts work? I don't know, but do you see the lack of humans in Target? We were in and out of three stores in just two hours, and we got exactly what we needed. Score!
Friday, we went to the mall to cross off a few more items from our list; all in all it was a productive and (most importantly) super fun Black Friday for the history books. That afternoon, I got to begin wrapping. On my list of very favorite things to do in the whole world, only a few trump wrapping Christmas gifts while listening to Christmas music and sipping a Diet Coke.
Yesterday was tree trimming and house decorating, another favorite! I had plenty of wonderful help, whose names are Seth and Eli and Amanda. What about Isaiah, you might ask? Nope, he spent pretty much all of Friday and Saturday playing a videogame using his own Black Friday purchase: a Playstation 4. I don't know much about this game, but every time I took a minute or two to watch, he was chasing after people and shooting them, over and over. For a pacifist family like ours, who dislike just about everything gun related, he sure picks weird games.
Whatever. We didn't need him anyway. Look! We produced this thing of beauty:
Vacations, however wonderful, are temporal. All week, we joked about not returning to school. Eli and Amanda would just stay here and not go back to Rexburg. I would stay home with them, rather than going to class tomorrow. Shulamith, who teaches a college reading course two evenings a week, would not return either. But, of course, it was all pretend, a pleasant dream, because like all temporal things, vacations come to an end.
That is what happened today. Shortly after church, Eli and Amanda and her sweet brother braved the cold and the potentially icy roads and headed back to Rexburg. They are traveling right this second, and I will be a happy mom once I hear they arrived safely. Tomorrow they will return to school, as will I.
As we enter into the grace of this miraculous season, may we be thankful for the temporal pleasures like vacations, while remembering the more important eternal blessings of One who came long ago to bring joy to the weary (which is all of us, really) and to make what seems impossible, possible.
Happy Thanksgiving!
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