Well, it has been a few days since I’ve written anything, so I thought I’d let my friends far and near know what I’ve been up to: I’ve been on break from school, traipsing around the eastern half of the U.S. Class let out for me on Dec. 14, and I then spent a couple of days in Bellingham, WA with Mary. Then I flew from Seattle to Raleigh, NC, and spent a few days hanging out with my parents in Fayetteville and Clinton. Then, on Dec. 21, I drove with my dad to Grand Rapids, MI to visit family and spend Christmas with them. Then, on Dec. 26, my dad and I drove around the south end of Lake Michigan to visit my brother and his family in Wauwatosa, WI for a few days. Then, my dad and I drove to Cincinnati on Dec. 30, and spent the night with a friend and former colleague of his. Then we drove the rest of the way back to Fayetteville on New Year’s Eve. I spent a couple of days in Fayetteville and a day with my mom and her husband in Clinton, and then flew back to Seattle. I have been in Bellingham, spending time with Mary and her family for the past couple of days. I’ll be here for the rest of this week, and classes begin again on Monday, Jan. 14.
So what have been the highlights?
1. Spending Christmas Eve at my grandparents’ house with most of the relatives. It’s a tradition that has gone on as long as I can remember, and every year, as my grandparents get older, I wonder if it will be the last time. Because of that, I have tended to savor the time more recently.
2. Going to the movies: I saw Kite Runner with my dad and aunt and uncle in Grand Rapids, and National Treasure: Book of Secrets in Bellingham with Mary. I enjoyed both movies, but they’re about as different as two movies can be. And although I didn’t go out and see it in a theater, another movie event of this break has been seeing The Godfather for the first time. That’s right; I’ve been alive for close to 30 years and had never seen it until yesterday. I’ve also never seen The Lion King, for those of you who are keeping score.
3. Getting books. I’ve already posted about the books I got for Christmas, but there were quite a few more that I got with my own money just because the time seemed right. I look forward to reading as many as I can before classes force me to read other things soon.
4. Meeting my newest nephew, and seeing my older nephew for the first time in a year. The older nephew is lots of fun (if tiring – I can only imagine what it’s like to be my brother and sister-in-law), and the younger one is the cutest creature on God’s green earth. I will have to post pictures early next week when I am reunited with the connector cord for my digital camera. It’s in Vancouver.
Elliot Ritzema 
I have never seen The Godfather although it is in my Blockbuster online que. I have seen The Lion King, where were you. Another suprising one, as many people have seen it numerous times, is I have never seen Titanic.
Get to posting those Theo pictures as everyone should see that cute baby.
Yes it is tiring to be me and Theo is super cute. We went to the grocery store yesterday and he got comments by 5 seperate people. He just smiles back.
I have seen the Godfather and the Lion King. The video store closest to my house growing up (which we suspected had mob connections) had lots of copies of the Godfather – go figure!