Leading up to Christmas 2020

The last month of the year is our wedding anniversary, a date chosen for it's convenience being sandwiched between the conclusion of fall semester at BYU and Christmas. Traditionally, December 17, sneaks up on us with relatively little fanfare during all the holiday planning. I remember one year, Bob and I were on the road to Utah with our children, and exhausted, stopped overnight in Albuquerque amidst a billowing snowstorm.  As we went to bed that night, Bob and I suddenly realized it was our anniversary and so we celebrated it with nothing more than a kiss good-night.  But 2020 was our 40th, and despite all our intentions to go celebrate it somewhere exotic and fun, in the end, we were not comfortable even planning a domestic vacation.  Instead, we spent another anniversary by going to dinner and reminiscing.  Bob suggested we go to a Brick Oven Pizza place, since the night our our wedding is enshrouded with haunts that originate from "Heaps of Pizza" (now Brick Oven Pizza) in Provo, Utah.  Yes, a record of that escapade it worth recording!

It was a cold snowy winter when we celebrated our marriage warmly in the home of Joyce and Alf Ridge. Bob and I had a double wedding with my brother, Jim, and his wife, Shauna. That's a story for another time! Our reception was held in the newly built home of her parents in Provo, Utah.  It's worth noting that this was the first prominent year of the Utah valley "inversion".  According to the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, "In normal conditions, air is warmer near the ground and colder at higher altitudes. In a temperature inversion, the situation “inverts,” and cold air at the surface gets trapped under a layer of warmer air. During the winter, snow-covered valley floors reflect rather absorb heat, preventing the normal vertical mixing of warm and cold air that keeps pollutants from building up to unhealthy levels at the surface."  Thus, the foggy cold conditions heightened the drama that ensued when, near the conclusion of our reception, Bob's brother Tom and my brother, Doug, launched their scheme to "kidnap" Shauna and I.  We were lured downstairs, grabbed, carried and shoved into an awaiting vehicle and quickly propelled away, unbeknownst to our family and friends. The car stopped at "Heaps of Pizza", a local favorite restaurant near the university campus, where we were shoved out into the cold.  I imagine Shauna and I were quite a site to behold, standing there alone in our wedding dresses and veils as we entered the pizza joint.  Without a penny to our names, amidst stares and laughter, we told our sad tale and begged for a dime (or was it a quarter?) to use the pay phone so that we could place a call to our confused grooms, who gallantly came to our rescue!

Now, back to 2020 . . . Owing to the fact that the Johnson Family had given Bob and I gift vouchers to I-fly as Christmas presents the previous year, and as they had gone unused due to Covid-19, we decided to use them for our 40th-anniversary activity. The Johnson family came and watched as Bob and I "learned to fly" in the air tunnels, and there was fun had by all.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, Bobby and Jill decided last minute that they wanted to be in Texas to finish out the year with family.  Jill was flying to Denver to be with her sister for a few days and Bobby and kids drove over to pick her up a few days later and arrived in San Antonio on December 21.  The Johnsons drove to San Antonio (with all their bikes and dad's in tow) on the 20th to stay with the Bosens, and Bob and I also arrived to stay in a nearby hotel. It was a gorgeous day on Monday and we chose to ride bikes along the mission trail. I rented an electric bike (so much fun!) and we had a blast visiting several of the missions. There were lots of fun sites along the way.

The fully restored San Jose is a large 300-year-old mission and the chapel is beautifully ornate.  The water powered grain mill was not functioning that day, but the kids had fun exploring the compound.  

Mission San Francisco de la Espada was the first Spanish Mission in Texas. It was founded in 1690  near present-day Nacogdoches in East Texas and was moved to San Antonio in 1731. I fell in love with the quaint church and it's adorable doorway, bell tower and brick archways.

Mission San Juan Capistrano, founded in 1716, was also moved to it's present location in 1731.  We left the grounds surrounding this white church as the sun was starting to set.

Bobby's family arrived that night into a hotel near ours and we all went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas together on Tuesday, December 21.  The giant Texas Rattler rollercoaster seemed to be the favorite ride of the older group.

Christmas lights made the evening hours feel especially festive.

Spider Mountain is a biking hill located a couple hours north of San Antonio.  Ben had previously biked there and talked Bob, Bobby and Thomas into going the following day. The "boys" had quite an exciting day, with Ben needing urgent care on the drive home to Houston that evening due to a broken petal strap.  Yikes!

The rest of us enjoyed a lovely day at the Japanese Tea garden . . .

. . . and playing hide and seek across the street at Brackenridge Park.

Nothing quite beats being with cousins!

Bobby and Jill's family remained in San Antonio with Chelsea and Thomas' family for Christmas.  The Johnson's returned to their home, while Bob and I arrived home to welcome Michael and Kristin's family at our house.