Here's What I Want to Remember About: Christmas at Home

For the second year in a row, we have been very lucky with Keagan's training schedule. Both years, he finished a school and had a good break before having to report to his next duty station, which allowed us to go visit with family for Christmas. A bonus of having our families live 1 1/2 hours apart is that it is always very easy to see them both.

This year, I packed up almost everything in our apartment, and we left the second week in December for almost 3 weeks in the Midwest. It was so nice to spend a good amount of time with each family and catch up with some friends.

We started our vacation off in Iowa. Of course, just because we had time off, didn't mean the whole family had time off too. Some people work for a living! ;) So, we spent a lot of time relaxing during the days and enjoying evenings with the family. I got to work a few hours thanks to having an online job, but I made sure to work less than normal and enjoy time with Keagan and time on the farm.

The weather was warmer than normal for this time of year, and we definitely enjoyed that. Spending last winter in Florida ruined us for life - our blood is not as tough as it used to be! I walked Zulu and the Hicks' dog, Shep, down the dirt roads a few times. We enjoyed many great meals with the whole crew. We had coffee tea and cider with some relatives that mean a lot to us (and drink coffee). We enjoyed being out in the country, inside of a cozy home full of Christmas cheer. We also went to the final Hobbit movie with Keagan's sister and a few of Keagan's friends.

Oh! And thanks to the incredible Dave Hicks - we got back our Altima. You know, the one that got in an accident in Florida 6 months ago. I may have been still be unreasonably excited about that. We also left my precious first car (a Maroon Grand Prix) in Iowa...its fate has yet to be determined. It was a little sad letting it go as that car was very good to me, but I will survive.

Then, we headed to Minnesota. Our time in Minnesota was great, but very busy. Between watching my little sister play a couple of basketball games, dinner dates to catch up with friends, and family Christmas parties...we had something going on every day. We watched Unbroken in the theaters - good, but the book is still better. We enjoyed a pretty snowfall. We froze on the one day that it was in the single digits. Brr. And then, before we were really able to think about it, it was time to go back home. As always, time with the family goes way too fast.

We went back to Oklahoma, did some final packing and cleaning, and then hit the road for our move to California.

(we probably ate unreasonable amounts of sugar and pizza, too)
(okay fine, that one was just me - not we)