And our Christmas break started with a 15-hour drive...

... Rodney and I stayed out later than we expected at the Pen Air FCU Christmas party, so we ended up NOT leaving at 5 a.m. like we had previously planned. Here are a few photos from the party that delayed us:






Rodney had to break the news to his Mom the next morning, at about the same time as we should have been well in to Alabama. To say she was disappointed would have been an understatement. Not being one to disappoint, I convinced Rodney to leave Pensacola at 3 p.m. Sunday and drive through the night, since we managed to sleep in almost until noon. Will thanked me repeatedly for allowing us to go. The trip was bearable, much in part to a DVD player, headphones and "Pinky and the Brain."





We arrived at Rodney's folks' place at 6 a.m. Jill's boyfriend, Luke was there, so I finally got to meet him. He'd be around a lot more through the week.

Side note: Before we left, Xan decided to "decorate" using a Sharpie pen. At first he said "nothing" when we asked if he did it. But it was a bit obvious, since he wrote his name.