Christmas at the Cabin

All the kids slept together until Alicia turned into a teenager, at our cabin and home, besides there were only 2 beds anyways, notice my homemade rope ladder because this was on the second floor, Looks like a Family to Me!!!

After Santa's visit, he Even ate the cookies and drank the milk

around 2000 Christmas

kids stringing the garland for the tree in new addition

Our Cabin Can you picture yourself there?

Another Boyles tradition from Santa is Silly String which usually ends up on Mom and Dad

Our Brand New 1974 Suzuki 400 our kids plus Cole and Cody Schnoor, yes it still runs and the kids loved it

Look how ready they are for Santa to come, notice the tree with very few ornaments, we just started our collection that year

Rita's tradition the kids get to open 1 present on Christmas Eve and guess what they are always PJ's(this is because my family always opened gifts on Christmas Morning and Rita's family always Christmas Eve, so we compromised as good parents should

Dad in Heaven on earth

Kids in Front of our old cabin

not our 1st Christmas but this old truck has delivered all our Christmas trees to the cabin

2006 Christmas at the cabin with Rita's Parents

Our 1st Christmas at the cabin with kids 1994

This is one of my favorites, I was just reading the story the night before Christmas when all of sudden I saw Santa Claus shooting across the sky in his Sleigh and the kids just had to see and believe which they still do!!

Our Our 1st Christmas in Jacksonville North Carolina 1980, notice Rita Long Beautiful Hair.

Merry Christmas

We celebrated Rita's Birthday on Friday 12/11/2009, all the kids came up except Ashley who's still in Hawaii. Wayne and Amy, Adam, Becky, Callie, and Emily, Tanner and Loren, Mike and Deb, Sara, Matt and of course my Red Headed step child Lora were there to toast to Rita and all the memories she left us. On Rita's 18th Birthday I asked her to Marry me and we forgot to ask her parents if it was OK, so we didn't tell them until her Mom spotted the ring on her finger and of course they wanted nothing but the best for her so when I got over there , they let me have it with both barrels, and I stood my ground, I guess they might have been preparing me for Boot Camp with all the yelling, after all these years I still feel as close to them as I did my Parents. The Cabin is 95% done and so let me tell you about our 1st Christmas at the Cabin.

I'm trying to remember what year was our first Christmas there, has to be around 1993 or 1994, anyways let me tell you how we celebrated Our Lord Jesus Christ's Birthday. It all starts in a 2 story 600 sq ft cabin in the Roosevelt National Forest, with no running water, electricity and any other comfort that we take for granite these days. That means I get to warm the cabin when we get there, because it is usually about 10 degrees warmer than outside which could be as cold as -22 below. Yep the wife and kids get to enjoy the warmth of the car, until I can get the temperature above 32, so you don't have to see your breath, and when they do come in they huddle around the fireplace. Well we can never make it anywhere on time so by the time I get the cabin warmed up, it time for bed, which brings another fun job of mine, warming the beds and pillows so the kids will actually go to bed. I do this using an old aluminum fry pan that I put on the fireplace and then make mad daces to each bed with a hot pan, the kids and Rita loved it as the beds were toasty warm, of course my side never got the full effect as the kids always wanted more warmth, so I would get the Luke warm pan, But I had Rita to warm me up, Ya Baby! (that means good - Real Good). The next morning we would all wake up to the refreshing fell of the mountains and No TV, Radio, Nintendo, and of course NO PHONE, if fact you can't get any service up there and still can't, Thank God for that one. We get everyone fed and dressed up real warm, because its time to go find our Christmas Tree. What a treat 4 kids with 4 different trees and no one is willing to give up their tree so I can cut it down and put it up in our cabin. This goes on for about a hour because I have made a stand that I will not cut anything until they all decide on 1 tree. Abbie was always the winner because she would always throw a fit and the other kids would just give up, never without a fight though, Rita and I would just sit back and film them and laugh and get mad then laugh again. We have always taken the same truck to get the tree, it's a 1968 Jeep J2000 with seats in the back of the topper to fit all the kids, now don't tell anyone but I haven't licensed it since 1997, beside have you ever seen a license plate on Santa's Sleigh? After I set up the tree its time to make some ornaments from hobby lobby and strings some popcorn, cranberries and fruit loops, which we still have. The kids always go crazy making different ornaments and of course they want that special attention that they made the best one, which of course Abbie always had the Best. We have another tradition that the oldest gets to put the Star on top of the tree and that of course is Alicia until she moves out, which is not for about 6 more years. I didn't have much choices then for lights so all I could come up with was a few battery powered ones, but they did just the trick and really looked beautiful at night with the lanterns off. We always have a fantastic meal on Christmas Eve followed by the kids opening 1 present before they go to bed, which turns out to be always PJ's and of course they must leave cookies and a note to Santa. This is the only day of the year I can get them to bed on time because they know if they don't Santa ain't coming down no chimney here, so off they go and of course I get to read The Night Before Christmas and all through the house, you know the rest. If you can believe it just before they fall asleep I see something through the window could it be, I think it is, so I tell the kids Look there's Santa Clause and his Reindeer streaking through the sky, its looks like a plain but the kids swear they saw him so i said you'd better get to bed. Speaking of rest who ever gets any on Christmas Eve, because Rita has always went all out for Christmas, which means I get to wrap, put together and pull all the hidden presents and put them under the tree. Rita's in charge of writing on the presents from Santa and she always had a certain way to do it and make me eat the cookies and leave lots of crumes and Santa would write something back to the kids. Wowser it about 2am and I haven't Even done the stockings yet! Isn't it Great to be a Mom or Dad!! well I finally make it to bed and just before I turn the Christmas Tree lights on and listen for the kids when they wake up to check if Santa's arrived yet. That is always a Special Treat for me, because I could see them through the vent in the floor and listen to them get all Excited that Santa Clause has come. Well I had to tell you our Christmas story and they still are happening today, just this one will be a little lonier, Rita will be watching from the Best Seat in Heaven as we all Celebrate Jesus Birthday. Merry Christmas Everyone and Happy New Year. Mike and Family