North Carolina Christmas

So many of you have asked how our trip was over the holidays. We haven't wanted to say much because it was kind of a hard trip. We are far enough away from it to hit the highlights now. My most favorite part was seeing my little brother. He returned from his second tour in Iraq in the fall so this was the whole family get together and the first time most of the brothers and sisters had seen him in over a year. He had lost 30 or so pounds while in Iraq so he was very thin, but super strong. Thomas adores him and was so excited that he got to go for a ride alone with Michael in his convertible sports car. Thomas was equally impressed that the girl Michael is dating drives a Charger. I helped Michael prepare an authentic Iraqi dinner for the whole family. It was fun to try new things, I had never had lamb in my whole life, that I am aware of anyway! It was okay, I would be willing to try it again. Thomas had fun playing with his south east cousins. My little sister Rebecca has a whole troop of little boys, Michael 8, Joshua 6, Caleb 4, and one tiny little princess Charlotte 11 months. My mom bought the little girls matching dresses. Mya and Charlotte are only 5 months apart but they are opposite in every way. Mya is tall, dark, agressive, and heavy! Charlotte is fair, blond, blue eyed, tiny, and sweet! I had sort of joked that if Mya sat on Charlotte she would squish her, she did. Mya's dress was size 24 months and Charlotte's was size 12 months, they both fit perfectly. Charlotte would pose and smile every time it was picture time, Mya would scowl and scream and try to run away. I am not sure if my Mom and Dad were able to get any pictures of her smiling. We found out right after we got home that Mya had a raging ear infection, possibly why she was so fun on the trip, or maybe that's just her!
Thomas was worried the whole time, "how can it be Christmas if there is no snow?" over and over again! We assured him that Santa will come even if there is no snow. On the coldest day it was 44 degrees, on the warmest it was almost 70. You have to love the south for that. We had direct flights both going and coming home. That was fabulous! However, we all came home with various infections. Mya the ears, Thomas had a sinus infection, Chris ears and sinus, Me a sinus infection. Thank goodness for antibiotics. We are so glad to be home, and unfortunately we have already planed and booked our next week away. I am such a homebody that I was in a very bad mood last night as Chris booked our hotel and flight. We are flying to Chicago in May to see Jeremy, Chris's youngest brother graduate from Medical school. While we are there, we will spend the week after graduation playing along the shores of Lake Michigan and getting in some good shopping. We are so excited for Jeremy and Jamie, and cannot wait to see where the next chapter in their life unfolds.