Merry Christmas!

What a busy few days it has been! On Friday 12/22, we packed the car full of luggage and Christmas gifts to make the trip back to Michigan. We arrived at Nicole's parents' house around dinner time, just in time for a Christmas party with several family friends. The next day, we held a birthday celebration for Caleb in the afternoon and went to a party at the Small's house (Nicole's friend from high school Shannon's parents hosted a party) in the evening. Then came Christmas eve, and two church services to hear Nicole's sister Rachel sing with the children's choir. We spent Christmas day with Nicole's family, and the day after Christmas was the traditional get-together for Nicole's extended family on her father's side. On the 27th, we attended a birthday celebration for Nicole's great-grandmother King (94!!) during lunchtime on our way to spend a few days with my family. We were with the Browns until yesterday evening, and now we're back using the Buick's house as a home base until we drive back to PA on New Year's Day. Phew!

Throughout it all, Caleb has continued to show us how flexible and easy going he is. He's been very personable with all the family and friends. He also learned the fine art of unwrapping gifts - at first we had to help, but before long he was ripping into them without much prompting. He's received lots of fun new toys; packing the car for the return trip will be a bit of a challenge.

As I type I'm also completing a mass-upload of [a large quantity of] pictures from the past week onto my webshots page. They should all be up and ready for your viewing pleasure before too long this afternoon. I'll post one below as a preview...

We hope that everyone had a Merry Christmas, and best wishes for the New Year!