Christmas Vacation

This Christmas was just like the good old days. There were lots of cousins. There was chaos. There was constant noise. There were gifts that were "forgotten" until the last minutes. Santa showed up in the wee hours of the morning. Nothing was formal. Everything seemed rushed. We only had 4 1/2 days with my family.

We left our home Saturday morning at 7:50 am. Yup, I said am. Danny is a tyrant when it comes to hittin' the road. He wanted to leave at 8 am. We beat him. Yay us!!!! We drove to Atlanta and checked into a Courtyard by Marriott. It had an indoor pool for the girls. It would have been for us too if we hadn't forgotten our swimsuits. :( I used my Marriott reward points for the stay, because I could. Can't beat that deal now, can ya!

The next day we ate at the hotel restaurant and were on the road by 8:25am. (He was shooting for 9am, so we beat him again.) We arrived at my parents house around 1:30ish. The dog, Bessie Lulu was barking up a storm inside the house. My parents weren't home. They weren't expecting us until 2:30ish. They were out shopping for groceries. We helped them tote the TONS of food into the house. There were to be 16 of us for Christmas Eve and Christmas dinners. Not to mention the meals in leading to those feasts. There were 2 turkeys, 2 hams, 4 pounds of butter, 4 beef roasts, a 17 pound prime rib and ALL the side dish ingredients. YUM-O.
Renee, Billy and Aaron showed up and the fun really started. I really miss not seeing them more often. It is just so far away and so expensive to fly.

My nephews are men now. How in the world did time fly so quickly. They are gorgeous men. The girls are after them too. Aaron is in LOVE with his girl friend, so sorry girls, he is taken. Ryan is busy planning for his future. Which right now is the Coast Guard. (I am not so secretly hoping they turn him down. I want him to go straight to college.)

More later...