Written by Kim
We left Thursday evening for a few days to visit Alex’s family in Tennessee for Christmas. It was quite a treat to be able to get away. We found some inexpensive flights out of Allentown direct on Allegiant which is not the most comfortable budget airline but it was a short direct flight. Of course, our flight out was delayed. We didn’t arrive in Nashville till almost 11 pm, got our rental car and drove to Cookeville arriving a bit after midnight. We stayed in a brand new Candlewood Suites which was very nice.
Friday we went over to Alex’s mom and dad’s house and spent time with mom. After dad came home from work we went out to White Possum for a simple but delicious dinner. Saturday was a family party at Aunt Elaine’s. We got up early so I could go to the grocery store and make my antipasto skewers. They came out good but I forgot to take a picture – sorry foodies! Aunt Elaine always decorates so beautifully below are a few pictures.
Aunt Elaine arranged for everyone to participate in telling the Christmas story for the great grandchildren. Different people played parts like the angel, star or Mary to make it entertaining for the kids. Then we played Dirty Santa the stealing gift exchange. Alex brought a birdhouse that said “See Rock City” which was a hit because evidently back In the 70s there was an advertising campaign where this was painted on many local barns. It was lots of fun. Most of the family was there so Abby, Alex’s cousin’s daughter, organized a family photo. Abby is quite a talented photographer.
Saturday night we went back to mom & dad’s to spend a little more time with them and hopefully see Alex’s younger brother, Steven. Alex got a chance to briefly chat with Steven and invited him to join us in Disney so now we have another trip to plan. Steven loves Disney and was excited at the opportunity to see Mickey because he told Alex he hasn’t been since September 2007.
Sunday morning we set off to Nashville for our flight home. On the way we learned our flight was delayed so took a small detour to Opry Mills and the Opryland Hotel. The hotel is magnificent so if you’ve never been it’s worth the trip to check it out. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas.
So here we sit at BNA. Currently we are expected to leave at 4:30 we will see. I need to get home and prepare to have my family on Christmas Day. I’ve made my lists of what I’m cooking, the house is decorated, cookies baked, Costco shopping done, most gifts wrapped hopefully the last ones came while we were away. We are so blessed that we will have seen everyone except Stephen, Bethany and Izzy during the few weeks around Christmas. We will be in Florida in January to see Stephen. Merry Christmas!
