Mom, Chris, Will and myself took to the road in the trusty Durango. It took almost 24 hours on the way up, and 25 on the way back (I blame the crappy service at the Cracker Barrel for slowing us down). The drive was pretty uneventful, with the four of us switching off every few hours. I took the dumb o'clock shift on the way up (12:30am - 7am) and another night shift on the way back (7:30pm - 3:30am). Dad cheated and flew. Spoil sport. No sense of adventure.

The trip itself was pretty great. I got to meet some cousin-in-laws for the first time, LaSean and Wally. There wasn't TONS of snow, but enough to play in and make some decent snowballs. Oh yes, there was some pelting going on. And, Will and I had the ultimate Christmas Eve stand-off: who can stand barefoot in the snow the longest. It was called a draw after 20 minutes when my father found out what we were doing and got upset, forcing Will in the house first (I really won!).

Anyways, here is a handful of the pics. Enjoy!

Mom behind the wheel. Its not quite freezing yet.

My fav photo of Chris driving. I had the coldest leg of the trip, as it got down to 4 degrees in northern Illinois around 4am.

Aaron and LaSean in their matching PJs. We have now been up non-stop for almost two days.

This is Zakkai, Aaron and LaSean's little boy. He's not quite three months in this pic. He's a little stud!

The farm is beautiful!

Good ol' Marquette, MI. Marquette gets more snow than in Rapid River due to the lake effect snow. Its also a "big town" --we needed some last minute gifts here, and they had a Kohl's.

We couldn't help but get into a snowball fight in Marquette.

Chris gets ready to let loose a snowball. My poor mother, we all ganged up on her.

See, I told you so. My fav way to throw a snowball was to pick up a giant block of frozen snow (like a little snow bomb). Oh yeah, they were huge...and cold...and messy.

LaSean and Grandpa at the family gift exchange on Christmas Eve.

Us unwrapping Christmas presents at 2:00am with Bill, Lynn and the girls.

Dad & Thunder take a nap on Christmas day (c'mon, we did unwrap presents at 2am!).

Me, the scarf and a hat rarely parted ways. It was cold!

Poor Lightning. We put a wreath on her, and then she gets in trouble after jumping up on a table and destroying some Christmas decorations.

We love SkipBo. There is even a trophy involved.

Grandpa's garden doesn't grow too well in the snow.

I don't know what he is eating, but Will's eyes scare the crap out of me. I suppose its okay to look crazy if you've driven as long as we have in that week.

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