Branson

I have done such a bad job of keeping my blog up, that rather than try to update the last month, I've decided just to start from this past weekend. I didn't even get pictures at Thanksgiving...I am slacking.

We took a small family vacation to the hot spot of Branson, MO this past weekend. We wanted to start the family tradition of seeing the Christmas lights at Silver Dollar City, and hitting the outlet mall, of course. To make the trip a tad more memorable, the weather took it's first dive south...it was in the 20s the evening we were in Silver Dollar City. I was a little concerned about it being too cold for Owen, but he ended up being the warmest of us all. He rode in my Moby under my ginormous coat. It was a little touch and go with Ethan for awhile - he was awakened from his nap early to go, and he was NOT feeling it. But once we got on the Christmas Train, all was well. The lights were amazing, and the big tree was gorgeous. I think what made the trip the most memorable, though, was meeting an older man named Gordon. We sat next to him at dinner and started talking to him. His wife died four years earlier and he has since made the trip to SDC every Christmas to reminisce about her and their times together. He showed us pictures of her, told us how they met, how she passed away, and all about their children. He told us to enjoy the time we have together because it goes so quickly. I was in tears pretty much the whole time. On our way to Branson, we'd prayed that we'd be able to love on whomever we met. I think we were able to love on Gordon a bit, but he really ministered to us more than anything. Suddenly, all the things that were robbing us enjoying the night as a family seemed really insignificant.

The next day we hit the Tanger Outlet Mall (a little piece of heaven for Chris!). We knocked out quite a bit of our Christmas shopping. The boys were troopers - they ingested their weight in snacks to keep them happy!

I think we'll try and go earlier in the year next season in hopes for warmer weather, but all in all it was the perfect beginning to a new family tradition.