We began round 2 on Friday night. Craig, Cathy & Avery came to our house after the graduation celebrations had ended. This brings us to the beginning of OPERATION NORTH POLE!!
Through our conversations Friday night, we discovered a Christmas Disaster! After opening two gifts to verify, we discovered Grammy & Aunt Cathy had gotten Brock the same gift...because Mommy told them both the same thing when she thought she told them differently! Under normal circumstances, no big deal...but, for a month leading up to the big day, any time you asked Brock what he wanted Santa to bring him...he replied: The track with the barn. (aka, the geotrax airplane set with the fly-through barn) So, now the kid has two fly-by bridges (the coordinating pieces), but no barn!
What a WONDERFUL FATHER AND UNCLE he has! At MIDNIGHT, Tom and Craig set off for walmart. They stop in at the walmart at 281 & 1604 and are disappointed to see not one barn in sight.
Not ready to give up, they get back in the truck and head west on 1604 to the walmart at DeZavala & I-10. About 5-10 miles down the road, on a very foggy night, an SUV flies by, and about a half mile later loses control, swerves, and flips! It was a good thing Tom was paying attention. The tailights were barely visible through the fog, but his alertness kept them from T-boning the SUV for a real disaster. Knowing the fog may catch other drivers unaware, Tom and Craig jump from the truck. Craig runs to the scene of the crash as Tom dials 9-1-1 and tries to re-direct traffic on 1604 with his flashlight! When the 9-1-1 operator asks who they should send...he hastily replies: "Send EVERYONE!" He calls me at this point saying...they may be a little late!
No less than a Christmas miracle, the man climbs out of the upside down SUV without a scar and pulls the woman out. She had a very bad head wound and Craig used everything in Tom's mediocre first aid kit he could find to help the man apply pressure to the woman's head. I feel I may be painting a bad picture, so let me assure you that the boys both believe the woman was just fine...but probably required quite a few stitches. They were all VERY lucky!
Ok, so at this point...maybe 2am by now? A normal dad may have given up and gone back home. Not Tom & Craig! ON TO WALMART! So off they go again.
On DASHER,
ON DANCER,
ON PRANCER & VIXEN
ON COMET,
ON CUPID,
ON DONDER & BLITZEN!
...AND I HEARD THEM EXCLAIM AS THEY DROVE OUT OF SIGHT...
WE WILL FIND THIS BARN IF IT TAKES US ALL NIGHT!
So the journey continues. At the DeZavala walmart, with hopeful hearts...they are disappointed yet again!!!
Tom knows of another Walmart, just about 5 miles further. So back in the truck they go. And arrive at the Wamart at Vance Jackson & I-10. I believe it was nearly 2:30 at this point. Cathy had woken up and could not figure out why Craig and his truck would not be home by then. She wakes me up and through my sleepy head, manage to mumble something about a wreck, 9-1-1 and 1604. Do you think I freaked poor Cathy out just a bit??? I guess I managed to wake up enough to give her more context and calm her fears...but knowing it was really late by now, I decided to give them a call.
As Tom answers the phone, you can hear Tom and Craig cheering in the background and I hear something like: "we just won the superbowl"!!! Are they delirious? Nope, but they FINALLY FOUND THE BARN!!!!! IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
So at nearly 3am, I wake up as they come home and knowing the night they had...and Tom's wrapping challenges, I wrap the final gift of Christmas. Brock will get his barn!
Before heading back to bed, Tom asks: "Do you remember what you told us before we left?" "No", I reply. Tom says: "You said this would be a night we never forget". DOH! Guess I jinxed that one!!! But they will NEVER forget it!
The INFAMOUS BARN!Through our conversations Friday night, we discovered a Christmas Disaster! After opening two gifts to verify, we discovered Grammy & Aunt Cathy had gotten Brock the same gift...because Mommy told them both the same thing when she thought she told them differently! Under normal circumstances, no big deal...but, for a month leading up to the big day, any time you asked Brock what he wanted Santa to bring him...he replied: The track with the barn. (aka, the geotrax airplane set with the fly-through barn) So, now the kid has two fly-by bridges (the coordinating pieces), but no barn!
What a WONDERFUL FATHER AND UNCLE he has! At MIDNIGHT, Tom and Craig set off for walmart. They stop in at the walmart at 281 & 1604 and are disappointed to see not one barn in sight.
Not ready to give up, they get back in the truck and head west on 1604 to the walmart at DeZavala & I-10. About 5-10 miles down the road, on a very foggy night, an SUV flies by, and about a half mile later loses control, swerves, and flips! It was a good thing Tom was paying attention. The tailights were barely visible through the fog, but his alertness kept them from T-boning the SUV for a real disaster. Knowing the fog may catch other drivers unaware, Tom and Craig jump from the truck. Craig runs to the scene of the crash as Tom dials 9-1-1 and tries to re-direct traffic on 1604 with his flashlight! When the 9-1-1 operator asks who they should send...he hastily replies: "Send EVERYONE!" He calls me at this point saying...they may be a little late!
No less than a Christmas miracle, the man climbs out of the upside down SUV without a scar and pulls the woman out. She had a very bad head wound and Craig used everything in Tom's mediocre first aid kit he could find to help the man apply pressure to the woman's head. I feel I may be painting a bad picture, so let me assure you that the boys both believe the woman was just fine...but probably required quite a few stitches. They were all VERY lucky!
Ok, so at this point...maybe 2am by now? A normal dad may have given up and gone back home. Not Tom & Craig! ON TO WALMART! So off they go again.
On DASHER,
ON DANCER,
ON PRANCER & VIXEN
ON COMET,
ON CUPID,
ON DONDER & BLITZEN!
...AND I HEARD THEM EXCLAIM AS THEY DROVE OUT OF SIGHT...
WE WILL FIND THIS BARN IF IT TAKES US ALL NIGHT!
So the journey continues. At the DeZavala walmart, with hopeful hearts...they are disappointed yet again!!!
Tom knows of another Walmart, just about 5 miles further. So back in the truck they go. And arrive at the Wamart at Vance Jackson & I-10. I believe it was nearly 2:30 at this point. Cathy had woken up and could not figure out why Craig and his truck would not be home by then. She wakes me up and through my sleepy head, manage to mumble something about a wreck, 9-1-1 and 1604. Do you think I freaked poor Cathy out just a bit??? I guess I managed to wake up enough to give her more context and calm her fears...but knowing it was really late by now, I decided to give them a call.
As Tom answers the phone, you can hear Tom and Craig cheering in the background and I hear something like: "we just won the superbowl"!!! Are they delirious? Nope, but they FINALLY FOUND THE BARN!!!!! IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!
So at nearly 3am, I wake up as they come home and knowing the night they had...and Tom's wrapping challenges, I wrap the final gift of Christmas. Brock will get his barn!
Before heading back to bed, Tom asks: "Do you remember what you told us before we left?" "No", I reply. Tom says: "You said this would be a night we never forget". DOH! Guess I jinxed that one!!! But they will NEVER forget it!
So, later on Saturday morning, Brock is very excited to open his and anyone else's presents. Avery & Aubree enjoyed themselves as well.
The Benich Cousins: Aubree, Brock, Avery
More of the new Airplane Tracks! We need a whole room just for Geotrax!
I just love this picture. Avery looks like she has just swept into Geotraxland and taken the natives by surprise...and they look a bit disgrunted! :) Brock better get used to it...Aubree will be checking out Geotraxland soon!
Santa was nice enough to leave a thank-you note for Brock. Even if the cookies were 3 months old! (So, Mom wasn't all together this christmas!)
We all had a great day and that afternoon, went to Chuck-E-Cheese for some fun! Can you believe it was the first time for Janet, Jenna, Avery and Aubree to go to Chuck-E-Cheese? This mom was checking out birthday prices and found them to be quite reasonable compared to what we normally spend on a house birthday!
We are pretty sure Tom & Craig had more fun than the kids!!
2 comments:
WHEW!!!!!
What a crazy week y'all had! Looks like you had a blast, though - with all the family, food, presents, and driving around saving people while finding that ONE present... :) I'm sure that will be a story that is told every year!!
I LOVE the barn story. Yeeah Dad! Glad you guys had 7 merry christmases. I also think the birthday cake for Jesus is a grand tradition (pun intended). I enjoyed your site Lori! Good to hear from you and guess what, I am retired and I did not send ANY christmas cards! so you are doing better than I am.
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