We drove to Alton, Illinois for a Harris Family Christmas gathering. They had hadn’t been together to celebrate in over 10 years so we made the trek. It was a 10 hour drive for us -we drove through the night on Friday night. That is the easiest way to drive because Lindy sleeps through the night. The only downfall is that when we arrive at 6:30am, she is ready to play and Dale and I are exhausted.

We arrived just in time for breakfast. We had some nice down time before everyone else arrived. We got at least 2 naps in. Rich & Michelle and their 4 kids arrived for dinner and Scott & Diane and their 5 children thereafter. Mom and dad secured an empty house for all of us to stay in while we were there, a 3 bedroom home for sale -a VERY good idea. Of course, it was a little like camping -no kitchen supplies, refer, beds, but we all loved the challenge.

Sunday, we attended the church that Dad H is pastoring at. I got to meet a few people that have known Dale since he was a baby.

Over the next few days, we ate a lot, played lots of games, Lindy played with all her cousins nonstop, we baked and cooked. On Monday, there was a mini Harris family reunion dinner and then on Tuesday we had an immediate family reunion dinner. I enjoyed looking through the photo albums and trying to absorb as much as I could about the Harris family tree. Mom H did a great job of organizing everything -I hope we didn’t wear them out too much.

We packed up on Tuesday night and drove through the night so that I could get to work on Wednesday. Bad idea. I called in and said I was coming late. I got in at 11:00 and there was only 3 people there out of 30. I got quite a bit done but right about 2:00 I hit a wall. Lindy went to work with Dale and he was actually productive as well.

As you can see by the pictures, Lindy was more interested in the paper and the box than the gifts. Mom and Dad H gave all the children an Alaskan gift. Lindy got a little white teddy bear -we’ve named him Kenai.  Erin made a cute little lamp for Lindy’s room by using a glass block. It has Christmas lights inside and when you plug it in, it lights up and you can see Lindy’s name and “The Lord is my Light and My Salvation” on the outside.

We organized gift giving by everyone drawing names. I think everyone had a good time. Made a mistake in leaving Uncle Dave out but he was  very gracious.

I received a silver tea kettel and tea from Michelle and Dale received a drill bit set and bicycle light from Rich. It was a nice time opening gifts at Grandma’s house.