Early Morning Start

D: Hi

Me: Yep, I'm really posting at 6:30AM. My dad came in the room at 5:50AM and woke us up. The goal is to be on the road before 8AM.

The time here in Dallas with my family has gone very quickly and it's time for everyone except D to head back north to Kansas. D has...gets to spend the week working. But we'll be all back together by Saturday.

The time has been both busy and relaxing.

Friday: After D got off work at noon, we went grocery shopping, last-minute Christmas shopping, and prepared for the family's arrival around 5PM. SR got off work at 7:00 and we showed up at her place an hour later to carol the family (including extended family) she works for. Then we headed out further caroling, hitting mostly families in D & SR's church.

Saturday: We took family pictures and got them re-printed for the family's Christmas letter. Now I get to update the family picture on my desk that is more than 5 years old! (My two youngest siblings have especially changed a lot in the last 5 years!) I took a nap in the late afternoon. Candle-light Christmas Eve service at Hope Fellowship, D & SR's home church, took place in the evening with a stop at one more home for carolling.

Sunday: Merry Christmas! We started the day by attending Stonebriar Community Church and heard the Christmas message delivered by Charles Swindoll. The rest of the day was spent relaxing with the family--gift exchange and ham dinner.

Monday: The weather all weekend has been beautiful with high's in the 70's. We took advantage of that on Monday and spent several hours at Arbor Hills Nature Preserve, including naps in the sun.

Evenings included games of Boggle, Clue, and Beyond Balderdash.