Yuletide Carols being sung

As always, the end of every year brings about a certain amount of reflection.

Christmas has passed, and I scarcely know where it went. We arrived in Guyton on Johnathan's birthday and spent the next five days happily awaiting the arrival of Christmas. Ross and Alaina kindly let me turn their kitchen into a bakery, and I can only hope that they enjoyed the goodies as much as I enjoyed creating them. David acquired a new swing set and was caught trying to sneak down the back stairs for a late-night swing. We had a lovely dinner at Grandma McGowans and traveled to Savannah to see "Sweeney Todd" with Meghan and Stephen. We had a couple of highly frustrating nights with an insomniac baby, but I also enjoyed several evenings with a good book and mug of cocoa. For anyone who knows me well, you know that the latter is my idea of perfection. We attended Christmas Eve mass at Lourdes and rode around in search of Christmas lights afterwards. Meghan woke everyone at 5:30 am for cinnamon rolls, coffee, and presents. Johnathan, Emily, and I dejectedly crawled back into bed around 7:30 and snoozed for an hour. After packing up and grabbing dinner for the road, we began making our way to north Georgia. We opened presents with Mom and Dad, but by this time the kids seemed to be growing wearing of ripping into packages. David immediately made good use of his Cars house shoes, and I squeezed in a few more pictures before retiring for the night. We spent the next three days with Mom and the evenings with Dad. Mom and I grabbed lunch together, which is something I often miss. Jessica, Kristin, and Katy dropped in the night after Christmas, and my children received some adorable new clothes. Johnathan, David, Emily, and I visited my grandparents and Chuck and Sheila the following day. It has been a while since I spent so much time with my aunt, uncle, and cousins, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. There was never a lull in the conversation, and it felt so nice just to feel so comfortable. That same evening was spent with Johnathan's aunt, uncle, and grandfather at Applebee's. Jeanette always keeps me laughing. Friday was a lazy, rainy day, but Emily and I braved the thick fog to have dinner with Jessica, Katy, and Kristin. We spent Saturday with Dad and after a quick jaunt to Dahlonega, had a nice dinner at home. Dad purchased a new Bose sound system, so I have been enjoying listening to tunes in the livingroom. The songs remind me of growing up. I spent many evenings in the back of the car, listening to the same music and dreaming of my life ahead. There are so very many songs that I will always associate with my father. We returned to Granny and Papa's for a longer visit today. It was another dreary day, so it was immensly comforting to walk into their cheery den. A nice fire chased away the cold dampness, and we all enjoyed watching the kids play together.

Dawsonville has been significantly busier than Guyton, but that's not entirely surprising. There have been more people to divide time between, which means less time for simply relaxing. It's the first Christmas I have known without my parents as a unit. I glanced at the picture of Mom, Dad, and I from Christmas Eve 2006 and could hardly believe that it has only been a year. In ways, it seems as if life must have dissolved so much longer ago. There is nothing to say except that it is quite odd and numbing...as if it must be a dream. Even still, I'm looking forward to next Christmas. I'm certain that life will have worked out its kinks by then. It has been a wonderful holiday season, and in ways, it has been the best in quite some time. Holidays are so much more magical when viewed with the eyes of a child.

This Christmas will be remembered for:

Getting lost in the cinema parking lot
Changes
The quest for Clapton
Choking on incense
Realizing that "the crew" is all grown up
Crawling in Daddy's lap like old times
Watching Johnathan play Zelda
Emily the eating machine (even now she's trying to eat paper...)
David's spelling kick (i.e. At the restaurant he points at a BudLight sign, names the letters, and proceeds to sound out the word...)
Epic Christmas Day Journey - across the state!
Seeing my husband get smacked with a frying pan...
Reconnecting