Whirlwind Week

My least favorite part of Christmas is when you take down the Christmas tree. But that hasn't happened yet.

I have been sans internet for the last five days or so, which has actually been rather nice. Monday morning I drove to my parents' house in Chatham and spent a few days there hanging out with friends and family before heading home last night. It was nice to recuperate after the insanity of last week. I thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas services, but I put more work into them than I usually do. (Oops, should I have confessed that?) So I slept a lot while at my parents'.

My aunt, uncle, cousins and grandparents all joined my fam for Christmas dinner. This usually provides some interesting moments, but I must admit that our last 2 family holidays have been really nice. I think it helps that my cousins have "grown up" quite a bit in the last few years....they used to tattle on each other and pick on each other through every meal, making it kind of awkward for the rest of us. But I think they have grown out of that phase.

My aunt brought over the game Apples to Apples on Christmas....if you haven't played, I highly recommend it. It is extremely entertaining. My favorite part of the game was when my grandpa put in the card "ninjas" when the word was "addictive"...and then proceeded to be shocked that my cousin Matt did not choose "ninjas" as the closest match to "addictive." I believe it went something like this: "What? Ninjas? Matt, come on, I put that in there just for you! How could you not pick ninjas? Ninjas!!"
It's funny in general to hear my grandpa get fired up about anything. My other favorite quote of the evening came from Brent: "Eyes!?! Eyes are SO soft!!" Of course every exclamation was uttered with a hint of protest. It was highly enjoyable. We finished out the evening with a few rounds of speed Scrabble as well.

Of course every trip "home" has its share of drama, and this one was no exception. I did have a chance to see the new building my former church recently completed....it is rather amazing. They have a beautiful kids' space, and the artwork is incredible. I would go there just to take my kids to that spot.

So here's to a happy New Year. So far I'm excited about it.