Christmas In Illinois

I do not know where to begin, but our trip to Illinois was filled many memorable moments. We arrived on December 20th at around 9:30 am. We made it in 15 hours, a new record. That day we stayed at our good friend's house, the Janeks, Mike and Kara. Did I mention it was -2 that day. More of our friends came over and we played "What if..." It was good to see Mike, Kara, Tony and Katie. Sunday morning we went back to our old church and Sunday School class. That was awesome, great praise and worship and incredible teachings. Sunday afternoon we saw Amanda and Sean Fierce. Amanda and I spent last year teaching together and now thay have a brand new baby girl named Arlene. She was very cute and Marijon really enjoyed holding her.

Sunday Night we went to my parents house for the remainder of the week. Mom made her home made spaghetti sauce and we ate like kings. It was so great to see my mom and dad. Christmas Eve was great. Marijon and I joined my parents at a family gathering at my cousins house. I got to see all of my relatives and then upon arriving home that craziness began.

Sienna, our brown lab, had chewed into 20 ounces of dark chocolate and looked like she had a balloon in her belly. She was so fat. Well after reading some very scary stories about the toxicity of dark chocolate in dogs including death, we called Lix Jones in Texas for some advise. We found out after Mary, from Critter Care, called me that we had to make Sienna throw up. And that we did. Hydrogen Peroxide will make dogs throw up, did you know that? Well she threw up all over my parents garage, all 20 ounces, and the garage smelled like a chocolate factory. Needless to say, she survived and a huge thank you should go to Liz and Mary, you helped save our Sienna.

Then we had Christmas, which was great. Mom's stuffing, turkey, and sweet potatoes were all just amazing. Probably the best part of christmas was teaching my mom to use that lap top. She learned email, Skype, and how to use the track pad. It was great to see her suceed and it will be great to communicate using these skills as time goes by.

We arrived back in Childress at 10 am Sunday morning. As always it was hard to say bye to family and that will never change, but Marijon and I really loved the time we had in Illinois and hope everyone has a great remember of the Holiday season.
Joe and Marijon opening on Christmas Day

Joe and Ed (Joe's Dad) on Christmas Day

The Three Kids: Kim (Oldest), Pat (youngest), and Joe (Middle Kid)


Dylan (Kim's son), Arlene (Joe's Mom), Joe and front and center is Stephanie (Kim's Daughter)