Better Late Than Never

I realized that I never posted about Christmas for a couple of reasons: 1. I added all my pictures to F-Book and called it good and 2. It's overwhelming to go through all the photos and decide which ones to add. So I've decided to take on that task today.

After my travel adventure I finally arrived home late in the evening on the 22nd. I forgot how cold Michigan really is in the winter (see Exhibit A). My boots and hat saved my life.

Exhibit A.
I was so happy to have finally made it! Welcome home!
Here's a list of things I did, somewhat chronologically ordered.

We tested out my new camera. I made my mom take about 10 of these pictures and she was pretty tired of it by the end.
More testing. I think he was making a point about the flash...
We went to the annual Howard Christmas Eve party. It was good to see everyone. Only coming home once a year makes it hard to keep track of everyone's kids - they all grow up so fast!
We played euchre on Christmas Day and Karen and I were partners. She really took one for the team by offering to team up with me because I'm horrible. And playing once a year isn't going to sharpen my skills.
You can tell by the look on my face that I had no idea what do do with those cards. Mom, on the other hand, looks pretty pleased with hers.
It was fun to spend the day with Grandpa and Karen.
I had to work for a couple of days while I was home so I set up shop at the dining room table. It was pretty much torture. I really did not want to be working.I did a lot of reading in my pj's. This was one of the "mornings" where I woke up at Noon and had Cheesecake for breakfast. Pretty much the best way to start off the day.
I saw Josh and his family and was finally able to meet his girlfriend (she's great!). We played some Wii and I was both surprisingly good and surprisingly awful. There was no rhyme or reason to it.
I met up with some high school friends, Kian and Julie, and caught up on their lives from the past year. (I really need to be better at keeping in touch.) Kian is having a baby in February!
And of course we stopped at the local DQ for a Blizzard.
Some events not pictured:

• Shopping (I may have had mom & dad pick out their own Christmas presents.)
• Eating at Beale Street (twice) and meeting Gregory.
• Seeing three movies: Benjamin Button, Seven Pounds and Australia.
• Surviving the snow storm with mom on the way home from Australia.
• Dinner with Karen and Grandpa. Karen and I may have lost at euchre but we dominated at Sequence.
• Family jam session with me on the guitar and dad on the harmonica. It pretty much sounded awful.
• Cinnamon rolls!
• Knowing very few people at church on Sunday and dad teaching a lesson.
• Wish I could have stayed longer because it was such a fun trip!