The Christmas Extravaganza!

So, we haven’t posted in a while…obviously. Our Christmas breaks are generally very busy and involve way too much time in the van. We put almost 2,000 miles on the van over the Christmas break this year! But, we were able to visit with a lot of family during the trip.

First, though, I want to back up a little. On Monday, December 15th, we decided to take a ride through one of those drive-through Christmas light displays here in Greenville. This one had a place to get out a walk around, so we did. I brought the camera tripod so I could try and get a family picture with the Christmas lights. Everyone was finally in place, and my cell phone rang. It was my dad, so I asked him to call back in a few minutes. He was okay with that. So, I took a few pictures. Here’s one:


So, my dad called back, and he asked what we were doing on January 3rd. I told him that we planned to be back in South Carolina, but that could be changed. He then asked if I had a black suit! He was still working out some of the details, but the plan was for him to marry Debbie Weiss on January 3rd!

So, the trip for all of the holiday events now included a wedding as well! As we prepared to leave that week Ethan helped with our Christmas letters. His job was to color the borders of the Christmas letters. He did a great job! Here's a sample of his artwork:Some of you may have gotten one colored by Amber or by me. I only did 3. So, if you have one of mine (my signature is in the lower right corner), save it…it may be worth money someday!

The Pennsylvania visit started at Amber’s parents’, and continued to my dad’s, my grandparents’s, and Amber’s sisters’. We had many family parties during the break, and had several opportunities to get together with Debbie’s family as well. She has two daughters, Megan and Jamie. Both are married and live in the Philadelphia area. The boys had a great time with Megan's kids and with Amber's sister's son, Andrew. Here's a picture of Andrew and our two boys enjoying one another.

Ethan and Micah enjoyed having Christmas everywhere they went! We celebrated our Christmas before we left South Carolina, but we got to do it all over again with the various families. Here are some pictures from the many celebrations:

We did take a side trip to a huge model railroad display called Northlandz. It was in Flemington, NJ. It was amazing! The walk was over 1 mile long through all of the displays that had been built. It was impressive. Both of the boys loved it! Micah kept saying, "Choo choo!"
The guys were able to go out the night before the wedding and enjoy some food and time talking and sharing. It was nice to get out and just be together. God has given us great relationships with each other. It was special.

Then came the wedding. Dad and Debbie both wrote their own vows, and they were powerful. Debbie’s husband had died in a plane crash about 5 years ago, so both families have been through some valleys. It was a great service, though, seeing how God brought them together and was working even before they knew each other!

So, busy was definitely an understatement for our holidays, but God kept us safe and gave us many opportunities to honor Him. It’s nice to be home now, though. Hopefully we’ll get the Christmas tree down this weekend!