January 2, 2004

Christmas ‘03

We got in last night from Christmas Vacation. Although Caleb never really realized that Christmas was different than any other day, having him made this year so much fun for us. Everyone tells us to just wait until he really gets excited about Christmas.

We started the 2,097 mile round trip in Tallassee, AL. Tiffany’s mom Aleta, her mom’s husband Wayne, and her grandfather Clyde live. Tiffany’s mom prepared a big down home southern meal almost every night we were there. We have to have a cause for a New Year’s resolution don’t we? I spent lots of time with Caleb. Kayla and I went to see the Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and I made it through the entire film without leaving once for the restroom!

After an overnight visit with Tiffany’s other set of grandparents in Tallahassee, FL, we spent several days with my parents in Wagarville, AL. You know you live in a small town when the trip to Wal-Mart is the main event of the day. One morning, dad and I went dove hunting practically in his front yard. I prefer dove hunting to many other types of hunting. The prize is not as big, but there’s much more action involved. You watch the birds come from every direction. You have to hit moving targets, and most importantly, you get to be loud. Tiffany and I also had a date on New Years Eve. We went shopping in Mobile and ate at the Dew Drop Inn. We ate there often when we were dating.

The only negative aspect of this trip (other than the fact that this was the first Christmas that I can remember without watching the movie Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase) was changing two flat tires. Thankfully they weren’t both on the same vehicle. One was for my sister-in-law, and the other one was on our Xterra.