Sunday, December 28, 2008

Christmas Trip

We are back home after five long days of traveling and intense visiting. So glad that we were able to squeeze in all that we did.

We headed out Tuesday after work and were able to meet up with some of Daniel's family for dinner. It was actually his mom's birthday so we were glad that we were able to celebrate with her.


Then we drove on to Bellevue to crash at one of my friend's houses. It was so nice to be on the other side of Nashville and not to have to worry about driving in traffic Wednesday morning.
Thanks to Kristalynne for letting us crash... sorry we missed getting to visit with you.

Wednesday we got up and headed on to Searcy. We had rain and heavy winds the entire way - not exactly an enjoyable drive, but we made it home in time for lunch. Wednesday afternoon and evening we enjoyed visiting with family and playing games. Grandma and Keith came over that evening for dinner.


Christmas morning Mom made us pancakes before we exchanged our gifts. This year we decided to draw names and only buy for one person. We are all working at getting out of debt and have discovered that as we have gotten older we buy the things we need or want and the whole gift exchange seems somewhat unnecessary. Anyways, it was nice to draw names and exchange gifts without feeling obligated to spend so much money.


The one funny story about our gift exchange was that Angela drew Mark's name. Angela is the one in the family that LOVES to buy gifts for people and when she tried to ask Mark what he wanted, he said just to give him money. Angela was not very excited about this prospect so she wrapped up one dollar bills into several small packages. Mark kept unwrapping presents but it was all individuals bills... we had a good laugh about that.


Christmas dinner was what I was hoping for: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole, pecan and pumpkin pie.


Christmas afternoon Angela and Robert had to head back to Memphis so Angela could work the night shift... wish they didn't have to leave early but thankful for time together.


Friday Daniel and Dad went deer hunting - or should I say they went for a walk in the woods... They saw one deer, but didn't get to shoot anything. Mark, Mom and I hung out. Mark is officially getting his own apartment in Nashville so that afternoon he and Mom went through the house trying to find odds and ends like dishes and towels and apartment-type things he needed. Then we went to see a movie that night.


Saturday morning Mark left for Nashville (he had to work that night). That left Mom, Dad, Daniel and me to go to Bobby's for breakfast. Then over to Grandma's for one last quick visit.


We decided to drive to Memphis that afternoon to spend some more time with Angela and Robert (and to give us a 2-hour head start on our long drive back to Charlotte). Glad we got the extra time in Memphis. Angela is really showing and it seems a little surreal that she is expecting.


We are now home after a really long day of driving. I look forward to the day when we will all live closer together.

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