Sweet Home Alabama....

well, not really, because Alabama is not mine nor Blake's home, but I can't help but have that tune in my head every time we cross the state line! The day after Christmas, we headed to Bama to visit my mom's side of the family, as we do each year on the 26th of December. Our trek to Leighton was a bit more eventful that we would have liked, but we made it to our destination safe and sound.

I will preface my story by saying that Blake, Jackson and me left our house on Friday afternoon (the 26th) around 3:00. Blake pulled the car out of the garage, and put the car back in park, and grabbed my hand, and asked the Lord to protect our trip and to get us all to our destination safely. He always does this before we travel, and I am so glad that the Lord is faithful to hear our prayers!!

We left our house, and headed towards downtown. I had received two Starbucks (my favorite) gift cards for Christmas. Blake asked me if I would like to stop at the Starbucks at the Read House and grab a drink for the road. I decided no (which is unlike me)...but then at the last minute, I asked Blake to stop at the exit, and I went into the Read House and grabbed myself a Decaf Peppermint Mocha Twist. I was out of the car for about 5 or so minutes. We got back on the road, and about 10 minutes later, all of the cars in front of us started slamming on their brakes, and a police car came across the median and went to an accident that had just happened about 5 minutes ahead of us. As we approached the accident, it was very obvious that is was serious accident, involving multiple cars. I praise God that he protected our family, and we prayed for the people and families that were effected by this horrible accident. I couldn't help but think...what would have happened if I hadn't stopped for my cup of coffee?

About an hour later....it had gotten really dark, and a bit foggy as the drive continued. Blake commented that he was always cautious during this part of the trip, because he worried about deer running out in front of our car....within about 2 minutes, some large animal ran out in front of our car, and unfortunately we hit a large dog with our car. Blake felt horrible, and pulled off on the side of the road to inspect the damage. We now have a cracked bumper, a bit of white paint missing, and 1 less fog light on our car.

Needless to say, we were very glad to get to Leighton, Alabama!

We spent Friday night with my Aunt Sherry and James. On Saturday morning, Aunt Sherry fixed an awesome breakfast, and we got to spend some great time with them. On Saturday night, we had our Christmas with my mom's side of the family, and played Greedy Santa. My grandmother walked away with the 5 pound peppermint stick that is creatively disguised each year as the gag gift. We spent the night with Sean and Erika (my cousins) on Saturday night. Blake performed his infamous and oh so accurate pencil/needle test to predict the gender of Erika and Sean's soon to be arrival (baby girl). I made him do the test on me again, just for kicks. Boy, girl, boy. We will see what happens!

On Sunday morning, Aunt Sherry fixed another yummy breakfast, and we headed to Huntsville with Sean and Erika. We went to a new mall, Stonesbridge, and it was a lot of fun. We ate at PF Changs, and then headed home. We had a great time.

Sean and Erika practicing!

The oh so accurate pencil test...

Jackson and Lincoln (do we notice a theme with the great grandchildren??)

He just looks mischeivious here!