Merry Christmas from Virginia. Charity and I drove down to my parents' house to celebrate the holidays with some of the most important people in our lives. I knew this would be a good vacation the moment I decided not to take I-78 home. That "road" has been under construction for over two years now.
My family has a convoluted tradition on Christmas Eve. After we read Luke chapter 2 and share a few other short stories like normal people, one party proposes that we should open one of our presents that night. The opposing party counters by suggesting that such a tradition has never existed. Then, the proposing party is given the opportunity to present sufficient evidence to persuade the powers-that-be that indeed it is a tradition to open up one gift on Christmas Eve. Finally, an "exception" is granted to allow for the traditional non-traditional present unwrapping.
Let's see if you can guess who wanted to open their present one day early in the following picture:
That blue dragon is my brother, Ben.
Josie gets in on the fun. I think they liked their gifts.
My mom made ham with potato salad, cranberry jello, corn, and a tossed salad for Christmas Eve dinner. Josie is doing quality control in the background.
This is my favorite present, even though I got her around my birthday.
Here is the Winchester contingent of the Howell family. Merry Christmas everyone!
