December 23-26, 2009

On the 23rd, I headed home to celebrate Christmas with my mom’s side of the family. Most of us were there this year, with the exception of, my cousin, Kristie’s family. They were making the long drive North to Missouri, but thanks to technology (like the iphone) they were still with us in a virtual way. That night, we ate well, had plenty of laughs and then played several rounds of bingo for (potentially) big cash prizes – lotto tickets. The next day, it looked and felt like Christmas as the temperatures dropped and snow started to fall (none of it stuck). That evening, I accompanied my parents to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at their church. Following that, we headed to Waco to celebrate with my dad’s side of the family. Christmas morning was spent with my parents, sister and her family. This year, I surprised my parents with a unique gift. I hid a miniature geocache in the house and gave them instructions on how to find it. Once they did, they had to open the cache and select one of the following as their Christmas gift – a trip to Washington DC, a trip to Denver Colorado, a new laptop with two years of 3G wireless, or new living room furniture. A few days later, they decided to take the furniture. BTW: This covers every gift (birthdays, mother’s day, etc…) for the next two years.