Well, it didn’t turn out to be a white Christmas after all. My mom called the Saturday before Christmas and told me that all the snow had melted from that week. All 8 inches were gone. I was bummed, but hoped that we’d get some snow before the big day. We drove up to Indiana on the windiest day that I can remember. I drove the whole way as it was all I could do to stay on the road; the wind was whipping violently. Just south of Indy it started spitting snow. That was a promising sign.  Around Anderson, IN the interstate started getting backed up. Being my old college town I new a few back roads so we got off on the less frequented first exit of Anderson. Our first stop light was a scary welcome back to Indiana’s fickle weather. The road was a sheet of ice. My wife’s car does not have front-wheel drive and we fish-tailed and skidded to a terrorizing stop. Welcome Back! Oy vay!
The entire town of Anderson- at least all the roads that we were on (heading through downtown)- were covered in ice. I tried to get back to the main road through town and liked to never get over the 8th Avenue bridge. All we could do was pray. Amy even suggested that we spend the night in Anderson and head out in daylight even though we were only an hour from home. Thankfully, once we got back to the main road things cleared up a bit. And as we finally got out of town the roads cleared up altogether. The wind come howling, but we made it home in one piece. Thank you, Jesus!
It was so good to be home- even without the snow. We had a great time with my mom. We had plenty of great conversations. And we didn’t go out too much b/c of the cold and b/c Amy usually gets sick when we’re home. Praise the Lord she didn’t this time! But instead, I was sick. I actually came home sick. I had lost my voice the week before Christmas and it didn’t return until after Christmas. Needless to say I didn’t get to sing Christmas songs with my mom like I had hoped. My voice sounded like I was going through puberty all over again, especially when I tried to sing.
Our family threw us our first baby shower while we were home. Most of my family, including my brothers, made it and a couple of family friends too. We had such a great time. My mom & my sister, Penny, did such an awesome job of planning the games, food and gifts. Amy & I had to compete against each other as we raced to diaper a baby blind-folded, identified melted chocolate candy bars inside baby diapers, and guessed the contents of baby food jars. It was great fun. And we got some awesome gifts for our little girl.
Our time at home was too short, but it’s always nice to come home to your own house. Amy & I had several days at home working on the house, getting chores done, and catching up on stuff before I had to come back to work today.
I hope that all of you had a great Christmas filled with  joy, laughter and love, and that your New Year is off to an awesome start!