Yes

When we told Cecilia and Andrew we were moving to England,  they invited our family to spend Christmas with them in Athens, Greece. ναι, παρακαλείσθε να!! Cecilia is technically William's and Anna's first cousin once removed (her grandparents Amparo and Everardo are their great grandparents). She came to live with our family when she was 18, months after Mike and I were married, until she was 21 and moved to Boston. She and all who love her are a beloved part of our family. Her wedding in Athens to Andrew was a fairy tale we will never forget. We were psyched for Christmas.

 
You may have heard that it snowed in the UK.

It honestly wasn't that much, but snow is so rare that the country doesn't have the equipment to do what needs doing. Four inches of snow shuts everything down.

Target practice.

Nevertheless, it was beautiful and tons of fun.

Gracias a Dios William arrived safe and sound between snow storms. I sobbed the second I put my arms around him. He can handle it, a lovely quality of his. The boys were thrilled and William was generous with his tired self.

The flu is raging through the UK. It's in the news. The day of the nativity play at Oaklands School 15 of 60 children in year 2 were out with high fevers, headache, cough and stomach upset. Sounds like H1N1 to me! Michael was one of the 15...

Out sick his last week of school (they call it "poorly" here, as in, "Is Michael still poorly?" Um, pardon??) before Christmas break. Update to list of worries was the flu raging through our family and us not being able to go to Greece, our departure now days away. With a 2 month old baby to visit, I was afraid to bring nasty viruses into her world.

Michael eventually rallied and I sent him to school for his last day.

Perfect chance for William and I to go do something fun. He indulged me with a trip to Bath to have tea in the Jane Austen Museum Regency Tea Rooms (my third time, I love it so much!).



We sipped Empress of Peking, enjoyed quaint sandwiches and downed a few tablespoons of clotted cream with our scones. Heaven! I love my son's mind. He sees the world in such a special way. He is funnier than anyone else I have ever met in my life. I love hanging out with him. I had to control myself to keep from blubbering with joy.

We drove home from Bath and the snow hit, Mike flew in from Israel that night, in the nick of time. Heathrow shut down and Anna's flights cancelled, day after day, leaving her in Tucson. After missing two flights on two consecutive days she let us know the soonest she could make it to London was Christmas Eve. There was much gnashing of teeth and wailing by me. We started to think of how to get her to Athens. I was very sad thinking she wouldn't see her house or our life in Crowthorne.

Life does go on. The night before leaving for Greece, we had a dinner and music night with our neighbors. Etsko is a concert pianist with an antique restored grand piano in her living room. She is teaching Michael to play the piano, and they prepared a duet of Jingle Bells. Mike played the banjo, and Etsko played Chopin. Everyone knocked everyone's socks off.

William and Dane warmed up the crowd.
Dane was stranded in London by the weather,
and we were happy he could join us for the night.

A jazzy bluesy improvisation.

Jingle Bells never sounded so good.

Bow.

Proud of Michael.

Listening to banjo.

Michael and Dane.

Jon and Kyle.

Dueling banjos.

Got to dance!

Etsko enchanted us. She claims to be rusty. We were delighted by her music and she has offered to play again for visitors. Prepare yourselves for something extraordinary! I cannot describe in words, but it was transporting. And she's rusty...

Dinner followed at our house.

Turkey tacos.

 And to top it off, a Japanese feast prepared by Etsko. Freaking awesome.

I love my sweet neighbors!

As we were finishing dinner, Michael started to writhe around on the floor and complain of a tummy ache. I ignored him for as long as possible, hoping, praying, denying there could be a new illness in our midst...the vomiting started a few hours later. It was gone by the morning, although what remained was a sad faced child.

So the next morning, December 21st, we had six tickets on British Air for Athens, but no Anna. I was torn. Part of me wanted something to happen to keep us in England. Anna had a ticket that would get her to London on the 24th, IF the weather held and flights resumed. And another part of me was dying to get to Athens and be with the Mexicans and Greeks. I was beside myself feeling like we were leaving Anna farther behind, and Heathrow was lunacy.  Together with a cast of thousands, we stood in line for two hours to check in for our flight. 75% of the flights that day were cancelled. Go with the flow, I kept telling myself. Go with the flow.

In line, William shared his music with the boys.

We left London knowing we might not see Anna at Christmas.

Mike and I have been discussing our adventure a lot lately, and we agree that no matter what, we are happy we are doing this. We believe in saying YES to life whenever there is a choice. This experience of leaving our precious life, family members, and friends to embrace a new unknown has dramatically affirmed this. We will always choose to move in the direction of more life, whenever there is a choice. In Tucson, I have a painting by one of my favorite artists, Janet K. Miller. It is a sacred heart, and below the heart is written, "say yes!".

I am holding the painting and the message in my heart.

Please tune in again for our Athenian Christmas Tale.