Family Update

We had a somewhat rushed but still wonderful Christmas. On Friday night we went to Billy's mom and dad's and spent the night to have Christmas with them on the 24th. I admire my mother-in-law's stamina more all the time. She stayed up all night cooking on Friday and woke up after a couple hours' sleep cheerful as a cricket. She's a better woman than I! Now I see where Billy and Elizabeth get their amazing ability to keep on going and going and going and...Anyway, it was a sweet day. The food was delicious, the gifts were thoughtful, and the company was great. I'm blessed to have married into such a wonderful bunch.

We opened gifts at home on Christmas morning. Silas and Elizabeth got bikes from Santa, and lo and behold, Santa brought me a bike too, the sneaky joker! There is even a seat for Sarah to ride. I was so happy. Santa must love me a lot. Either that or I was just extra good this year, who knows. Sarah was so excited about opening gifts. Of course she didn't really care that much about the gifts themselves, but I think she sensed the other kids' excitement and had fun with all the shiny paper and boxes.

We went to church and then dropped by to see an elderly homebound couple before heading to my parents' where a yummy Christmas dinner was waiting. Whew! We finally got to slow down for awhile. We opened presents with them after dinner. My mom made Elizabeth a Raggedy Ann doll and got Silas an old-fashioned top, and they were so excited that they could have cared less about opening any more!

We spent the night with Daddy and Mama and then spent the day Monday with them as well. A special treat was that we got to go horseback riding. The kids have never been and I haven't been in years. It's funny how something can feel both so foriegn and so familiar at the same time. Riding Levi's gentle horse Matt was the highlight of Silas and Elizabeth's trip. Silas had a frozen-on grin--we couldn't get him to stop smiling as long as he was on the horse! When it was time to stop they acted as though the world had come to an end.

We got home last night, tired but happy. My little homebody, Sarah, looked around the bedroom for a minute as though to say, "Yep, we're home!" and then laughed out loud. She is easygoing and loves to visit family, but she is always ecstatic to be home.