Illinois with Mum's side

On our way home from St. Paul, we stopped by our other Grandparents' home, in a small town called Forrest. Okay, so it's not really on the way home, but we all think it's worth the extra hours of driving. We took off after lunch on Sunday afternoon, and drove 8 hours - I think that I slept about 5 of them. Then, when we woke up the next morning, Grandma had planned a second Christmas for us! Here are a few of us, opening our presents:

Okay, so this was totally random. Sometimes, when taking a photo, I hold the button down too long, and it takes a second picture. This happened twice when we were there, and here are my two pictures:

After that, Dad, Mum, Andy, Abby, and I went shopping and visited our Great Grandma Laura in a nearby town. She is almost 101-years-old, and still going strong. She is bummed out that none of the other residents at her home will play cards with her - no one else has quite the mental sharpness that she does.

Tuesday, we helped my Uncle David (Mum's brother) move. He and his family were just moving into the house that they had built (or "had built" I suppose), and as it was only about a mile away from the house they had been living in, we used one Uhaul, and about 4 minivans to move their boxes and furniture. It was fun, although somewhat exhausting! All of the family was gathered there, with the exception of my Uncle Brad (an in-law), and Mum's sister Denise and her family, who live in Dubai, U.A.E. It was neat getting to say hi to all the cousins, even for just a short while. We also got a chance to do some shopping in Bloomington, the town they live in. Abby and I had fun in the Macy's men's hat department.

Then Wednesday, the whole family (minus Andy and me) headed back home. Andy and I stayed in Forrest to help Grandma and Grandpa with some photo/memories/computer scrap-booking/archiving/family documentary making stuff. Don't ask - I can't even remember what all we did! But we worked hard, Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday morning, before heading Friday afternoon. We also took time off, eating lots of cookies and yummy homemade meals, watching football and basketball games, and even catching two good movies - The Bucket List, and Forest Gump.

And now we are home, home at last! Time to take a vacation to rest up from our vacation! No, in all honesty, it was a wonderful holiday season, and I so enjoyed the time spent among my great family, both immediate and extended. To have such a Christian, God-honoring family is a huge blessing that I take entirely for granted. So thank you God, for this beautiful time I've had with them, and for the love they show to me.

Hope you had a great holiday as well!

Rebekah