1200 miles later...

For many of you, Christmas means a time to relax and spend extended time with your families and maybe even friends. Maybe you have to travel a little bit here and there...not the case for us. Over the past 5 days, Meghan and I drove 1200 miles (yes almost halfway to our next oil change and I just got on last Friday) in our whirlwind tour of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It was sheer madness, but we managed to have a really good time despite all the driving.

Long ago (last year) we decided it was too much to do both of our families in the same weekend for Christmas so we are alternating years (with the other family getting Thanksgiving with us). This has been a tricky adjustment for both of us, but its the only way to make it work. Well, this year, we decided to take the Saturday before Christmas with my (Trevor's) family and then spend the rest of the time with Meghan's family as it was their year.

Friday night we drove 170 miles to my parents in THICK fog and spent the next morning and early afternoon with them. It was nice to get together with everyone even though it was strange to miss out on the other festivities with the relatives that I have never missed before.

Saturday afternoon, we drove up north to Cloquet, MN (just outside of Duluth) to spend time with Jeannie's side of the family. The first half of this 360 mile drive was in the same dense fog but about halfway there, the fog lifted and it was smooth sailing during the evening. The next morning/afternoon we spent time with the family there celebrating Christmas with everyone. we had a really nice time with everyone (even though I took some heat for the poor performance from a certain football team).

Later that afternoon, it was time to brave the winter storm for our 130 mile drive to the Twin Cities. About halfway home we decided to make a pit stop with Pat and Susan at Grand Casino in Hinckley. We played some blackjack and I think both couples left the table in pretty good shape despite that we were all down to $5 (at the same time) at one point! We got home that night and met up with Jason and Kelly at Major's to watch the Vikings. It wasn't a good day for either of us in the NFL department.

Monday morning (Christmas eve) was a free morning for us...ahh free time...so Meg drove down to meet up with Beth in Cannon Falls (90 miles round trip) while I went to the gym with Jason and Jamie. After and exhausting workout I returned for a shower and then it was off to Eaglebrook for the 3 pm service. This was the FIRST time I was ever at Eaglebrook for Christmas in my 9-10 years of attending there. That night Meghan's immediate family came to her parents house to celebrate together. We had a fondue Christmas which was absolutely wonderful. Its been a while since I've had an entire fondue meal at home but it was really tasty. We really enjoyed this night of celebrating with her family and seeing Gabey and Ana tear into their presents with sheer joy!

Christmas morning was spent at the Berger's who generously spent their Christmas morning with us (and cooked us one FABULOUS breakfast). It was nice to catch up with them and have that traditional Christmas morning of opening presents that I grew up with. Later that afternoon, it was Christmas with Doug's family. We enjoyed a huge turkey dinner (prepared by Doug and Jeannie) but had to zip off at 2:30 as it started snowing again for us. We finished loading the car and were on our way for a 370 mile drive. Its always a little hard to leave MN, but after such a crazy weekend of traveling, its nice to be home! I don't anticipate all of our Christmas weekends to look like this one, but its clear that living in IL is going to make the holidays busy and hectic.