the blackmons in chicago

Christmas in Goldsboro, NC:
Well, we just arrived back in the UK from 2 weeks holiday in the States...1 week with my family in NC and one week in TN with Brad's. What a great time we had! So great, coming back was difficult. But we wanted to post a few pics from the great time while there. We flew in on the 23rd and boy were we tired...it took us almost 24 hours to get to my dad's house! On Christmas Eve, we had a great night complete with the turkey dinner and opening presents with my dad and Joyce, my brother Brian and Shannon and their adorable 4 kids (Lindsey, Ben, Seth and Lindsey) AND my mom's twin sister, Aunt Brenda and Uncle Bob. They drove up from St. Mary's, GA to be with all of us. It was such a great time and we ate so much food!
Christmas Day, we had a break from the traditional and spent it with my sister-in-law's side of the family. We had a full-on Italian buffet, no turkey to be found and it was nice! No, no one there was Italian, but we pretended for the day. Then we played a game of Dirty Santa which is always funny - everyone brings a gift, good or bad, numbers are drawn, you pick a gift, and you can take any gift from anyone who has gone before you and they have to take yours! It's quite fun! On Monday night, we were able to see my entire side of the family on my dad's side which was great. I'm one of the only cousins with no kids, but no pressure here!
The rest of the week, we just spent time with my family and played with the kids. We managed to see my friends Jay and Cristie as well and catch up with them and Brad's Aunt Sherrie and Uncle Buster. So, it was definitely a fun-filled time, well spent with my family that we dearly miss! Then we packed up our bags, headed to the rental car lot, and drove to TN! Next stop, Brevard, NC to spend the night with our friend Elizabeth in her family's mountain home.