12/26/2006



Christmas Craziness!
(pictured above are my marsh- mallow snowmen toasted in an open fire)
It's the day after Christmas and we have made it back to Michigan finally to visit family. The only down side is there is no snow. Its cold but no snow. Christmas eve after a 13 hour day at church I came home and tried to wind down. This included lighting all the candles in the house and turning on some of my favovorite Christmas shows to watch while packing for our trip. Yes that is plural. Christmas vacation in the living room and the "Christmas Story" in my bedroom. Both shows that I hadnt gotten to see yet this season. Now I could enjoy the rest of the evening I had left while packing and getting the house ready for us to be gone two weeks.

The full day we spent travelling here seemed like 3 days rolled into one. (As if 5 services at church on Christmas eve wasnt enough already!) If you were to see us hanging in the airport (in either Phoenix or Chicago) you would notice we taking advantage of the time with our gifts and gadgets.
*Ethan was taking pictures on his new digital camera and transferring it to the laptop
*Corey was playing music on his new MP3 player,
* I was surfing the internet for music for my Ipod
* and Kathy was texting friends and drinking my Starbucks Coffee.
We are so high tech. Or pretend to be anyway.

Now we are at my parents house where my mom has been blessed with the gifts of every musical toy you could imagine:
*A 3 foot nutcracker bear is in the corner singing "The Little Drummer Boy"
*A little magical piano is playing while magnetic snowmen dance on the top,
*A mechanical Santa claus is banging on his minarature piano ("Santa Claus is coming to town") *And a family of mice sits on top of the TV singing " All I want for Christmas if my two front teeth".
(someone stop the madness!)
And yes they are all playing at the same time. My niece and Ethan make sure every few minutes to keep them going whenever the song is over.

And the technology savy Christmas continues as :
*Mom and I compare our new Ipods and ipod accesories and of all shapes and sizes,
*Corey and Tyler play Lego Star Wars games on Uncle Todd's laptop and
*Ethan designs cars from the Cars Movie on my laptop.
*and my niece Alisa is now joining the fun on grandmas computer playin her new game.

It's official. The days of the tinker toys are over. The noise is getting louder.

As for me even though every minute of my life has been filled with noise and business since a couple days before Christmas all I can say is that it is definitely good to be on vacation and enjoying the holidays with the family. Even if I can't hear a thing. In the meantime I will be praying for more Peace on Earth. Or at least for peace within the hearing distance where I am sitting right now.

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