Memories from over break

Overall, I tremendously enjoyed our time over the last two weeks.  It's definitely not the same as it was when the kids were younger because there are still swim schedules and teen job responsibilities.  In fact, poor Catherine had to be at work yesterday at 7AM!  In some ways, getting up at 6AM yesterday was a good transition because I was up but relaxing, and it made the 5AM this morning not quite so awful...but still not awesome. 😀

Several specific, very special memories stick out from over the last two weeks.  The first was on Christmas Eve.  Our church changed to only one service for the evening, and honestly, it was wonderful.  It was dark (we had always gone late afternoon in the past) which made the candlelight part of the service almost magical.  It was also very nice to get to see so many of the teens who are away at college, and I thought it was very nice that it was full.  It was a wonderful way to bring in Christmas.

Another very special memory came on the first Thursday, when everyone was still at our house.  I had given Andrew Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation and we all sat around and watched it.  The kids and I had never seen it before, and it had been years since my in-laws had seen it.  Andrew and I both commented that not only did we enjoy watching it, but we enjoyed watching the reactions from the rest of the family.

We had an entire week on our own as well.  Robert left his four-month-old puppy here, and we had to care for him until we could get him to my mom's house.  She is going to care for him until Robert is able to make arrangements to have the dog with him.  He is a sweet dog, but we aren't in the market for caring for a dog.  Most of this past week involved caring for the dog, double swim practices, and family bonding around the TV.  It's not my most favorite way of bonding, but I do appreciate that we are doing it together.

So many, many times over the break I couldn't help but think how amazingly blessed our lives are.  I even told Andrew how grateful I am for this life we have created together.  My heart is more full than I can describe.