Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Whew. We are home and settled after an almost 3 week vacation. We left Friday the 16th and made our first stop in Atlanta to visit my sister and brother-in-law. It was a great weekend! I loved getting to know my new little nephew, Owen and see how much Caleb has grown. They are such cuties and Chelsea is doing a fantastic job being a momma! I get a bit nostalgic hanging out with her and watching our kids play together. We were the kind of sisters who were best friends one minute and fought every other minute of the day. It wasn't until we were separated (when I left for college) that we really became close. Today I would tell you she is best friend. It's such a blessing. :)

After Atlanta, we made the 10-11 hour drive to Peoria where we camped for 2 1/2 weeks. We hadn't been since two Christmases before, so we were overdue for a visit! We got to spend a lot of time with our family and spend some time with friends too. We often think of everyone in Peoria and miss them dearly. The three years we lived there were such a blessing to our family. We grew in so many ways and we definitely treasure that fact. So it was very good to get to catch up with EVERYONE. My favorite memory from our stay in Peoria was probably our family's "Christmas Day". Like many others... we had our Christmas Eve on Friday and Christmas Day on Saturday. Jared's parents and our family all spent the night at Jared's sister's house with her family. We had our traditional snack food meal on Christmas Eve and then all cozied up and went to bed. The next morning we woke up and opened presents together. We took turns so we could all see what everyone got... all this while we were in our jammies sipping coffee. Ahhhh! It was perfect! Then we made a big breakfast and stayed in our jammies. And we all literally stayed in those pajamas and relaxed until the late afternoon. :) It was the best day! We had our big Christmas dinner on Sunday after morning services. YUM!

All in all our trip was fun and we are so glad we went. BUT, we will not lie.... we are very glad to be home and in our own beds and back into a routine! The calendar is already filling up too! I am not sure whether to groan or feel blessed by that. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends! Happy New Year! My prayer is that we all recognize our blessings this year and use them to serve God. :)