"Christmas is All Around Us"

Oh, such a funny movie . . . Love Actually in case you didn't get the quote in the title.

So, we are still in the Pacific Northwest and waiting patiently to begin our vacation to the east coast. We are scheduled on a red-eye tomorrow night, and though it is not the ideal flight we had in mind, we'll take it because I just want to get to my mom's for Christmas. It's kind of a big deal.

We have had three days of non-stop action here. On Thursday evening Ben's parents came to our house to celebrate Christmas early since we would be gone. On Friday we had a larger family Christmas gathering at Ben's uncle's house. And yesterday was the same uncle's birthday party a couple towns away. Each event involved a pretty treacherous trek over snow and/or ice depending on the day. We bought our first set of chains and used them the same day due to the snow and ice covered roads. The time with family was good, but frustrating as well. I've shared before how my mother-in-law doesn't communicate well and these events were no exception. We literally found out early each day what time events were being held and didn't know until after the birthday party that there was an additional dinner being held that night. I'm glad the time with Ben's family is over. I need a break!

Hopefully the boys will get another good night's rest and we'll all be ready for our night time flight to Pittsburgh. Jesus, help us be patient parents on this journey and as we battle fatigue on the other end as well!