Home for the Holidays

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Hi All! We took some time off from the blog to spend precious time with our families as we were home for the holidays. Julie and I both went to our hometowns of Raleigh and Reidsville respectively for some much needed R&R and holiday family time.

It was wonderful to have a few days off to spend at home surrounded by friends and family. Christmas is always one of my most favorite times of the year. It is not because of the gifts under the tree or the delicious meals, though those are nice additions to the holidays. However, Christmas has come to mean so much more now as we grow older. It is such a special time when family comes together, something that doesn't happen as often as it should.

This year, my family did something really special on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day. We pulled out old home videos from when my sister and I were newborns up through four and five years old. It brought tears to my eyes to watch how simple things seemed back then. Now we are lucky to even have a day to sit down at a meal together.

There was footage from Christmases of years past with our entire extended family gathered around our large dining room table. We had so many people in the house we had to have a separate kids table. Sadly those days have come and passed. I can't remember the last time we had to set up an extra table for the children.

Its an unavoidable fate that time will continue to change and the memories of holidays past will remain memories. However, while the excitement of waiting to see what Santa brought isn't quite what it was 15 years ago, there is something even more special about Christmas these days. I found myself more thankful to just spend time with family, and that we were happy, healthy and able to enjoy the company of each other.

As we grow older, those special moments outweigh anything under the tree.

Hoping you all had a very Merry Christmas and wishing you a prosperous New Year. Stay tuned as Julie and I venture for Music City to ring in 2015.