Ever since we moved to Maryland back in 1992, we have been spending Christmas in Michigan. It led to an odd lack of Christmas decorations in our house, because we wouldn't see them on Christmas itself. We never purchased a Christmas tree and our presents were piled for easy packing into the minivan. And we were heavily involved in the December ( Read more... )

This Christmas vacation has been more surprising than most. The biggest surprise is that we bought a car, a 2007 Kia Optima, to replace our 10-year-old minivan. The rest of the details are more ordinary, except for the great variety in the weather.

( My Christmas vacation )