MERRY CHRISTMAS

It's now the very early hours of Christmas Day, 2008, and I find myself preparing to turn in.  Tonight was Christmas with Mom's side of the family, and Mom and Brad gave everyone their gifts.  To be quite honest, I'm not sure I could ask for anything more from Christmas this year, except maybe to spend some time at Dad's side family dinner tomorrow.  Still, even though I'll miss that, it's been a great holiday. 

Ryan received 7 new books from Mom tonight, from his favorite series.  In fact, 3 of the books continue a series he thought had ended, so he was utterly shocked when he opened the books.  On top of that, he got a few 'fun' things as well, including his first mini mag-lite. 

Allison got a gift card to one of her favorite Restaurants, plus a gift that I am still not even sure we should accept -- one of Grandma Dunn's Christmas ornaments.  You see, Mom has her entire tree decorated in ornaments that Grandma Dunn either made or painted (ceramics) over the years.  It's really beautiful, and I'm amazed that she was willing to share one with us this year.  It is really something special.

As for me?  I got several items from my wishlist, including 2 Alabama CD's, the 'Inspirational' album which contains mostly Christian songs performed by the boys, and the 'Livin, Lovin, Rockin Rollin', a set of 3 CD's with some of the great hits and a few never before released songs.  I spent quite a while paging through the book that comes with it, just reading some info about the Alabama boys I never knew.  I was really impressed with the set.  I haven't had the chance to actually LISTEN to it yet, but just reading the material, including background info about each song in the set, I love the set already.  Most of the songs I've already heard many times over, but there's a lot more to the set than just songs. 

In the morning, I expect Santa will have brought some great new gifts for Ryan, and then we'll stop by Dad's house on the way out of town.  We're heading to Galesburg for lunch with Allison's family, and then home for the night since I have to work Friday morning.  All in all, a busy holiday as always, but I can't remember one I've enjoyed more. 

Oh, one last thing.  Let me leave you with this link to a true Christmas classic, which should bring a smile to the face of most everyone under 60ish.  Enjoy this Christmas song.