Christmas and New Years

Since I was subjected to dial-up internet while at my grandparents, I haven't posted anything in the past week or so since I was there. I'll give a brief run-down of what Christmas and New Years was like:

This year, we opted to have the Henderson Christmas a bit earlier than normal. We randomly decided on Friday night (Dec. 22) that we would open up presents to avoid the hassle on Christmas eve. I was a bit unprepared, not having wrapped any of my gifts, so all of my gifts were given out in plastic bags. Aside from Katie, Kristin, and Brian buying a few of the same gifts for people, I think everybody was happy with what they got and it was good to have the whole family together again. Also, that morning we took our family pictures. I'll post a few of them for those of you who haven't had the privilege to see our beautiful faces in a while:


I've got to say, the second one is my personal favorite. Just to keep the rest short and simple, on Sunday, we had Christmas with my dad's side of the family and attended the Christmas eve service that night, and on Christmas day we had a gift exchange with my mom's side of the family. I headed out on Tuesday night with Kristin back to Evanston as she wanted to come see where I lived and hang out in Chicago for a day.

Some highlights from Christmas: Rachel and I winning Trivial Pursuit at Grandma and Grandpa Sollars's house, participating in a huge round robin tournament of gin (and practically breaking even), watching like 6 DVDs with the family, going to Fazoli's twice, seeing Kendall's huge belt buckle, and of course getting to see everybody after a my absence last Christmas.

On Wednesday, Kristin and I headed to Chicago around 9:30 am (and missed the express train by about 5 seconds, but that's another story). I took her out to lunch, then to the Sear's Tower and Merchandise Mart, and then we stopped by both B. Dalton's and a used book store. We also just strolled around the city for a little bit, and I bought her dinner to take on the train with her before she left. We had a good time, but she had to leave by about 3 pm, so next time she visits, we should plan on more time so we can go see some sketch comedy or something.

For New Year's Eve, I just took it easy. I didn't really feel like going to any parties and watching people drink their lives away, so I hung out with Andres and his friend Naomi and went to see fireworks on the lake. It was basically just what I wanted to do, though I've got to say it didn't really feel like New Year's. Maybe next year I should go into Chicago or something. We'll see...

Tomorrow I've got to get back to work, and Wedneday my classes start. Then I'm pretty much booked until June.

I hope everyone's holidays went well, and I wish you all a happy New Year!