Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a warm and happy Christmas Day. We spent our Christmas Eve in the company of Sherry's family. Of course, the weather which has been on everyone's mind for the last week almost triumphed over our get-together. It went something like this:

1. Leave Clark compound and drive down street still covered with nasty hangaround snow
2. Drive nicely cleared roads where snow has melted
   
3. Arrive at in-laws and get stuck in 14 inches of nasty hangaround snow mixed with new I'm-going-to-mess-with-your-commute snow
4. Dig minivan out of snowdrift created by city trucks pushing it around with rubber blades (don't get me started on their snow removal techniques)
5. Tweak lower back before getting minivan loose...and then stuck again
6. Enjoy time with family eating wonderful dinner smothered with yummy sauce, tempered by ibuprofen
   
7. Observe Giftpocolypse with children while eating cookies and drinking eggnog (David got a microscope and Jack got Tonkas)
   
8. Pile into minivan and launch it towards the road with in-laws pushing on the rear hatch
9. Scramble up an icy/melty hill after getting a running start, and then reeling headfirst into an intersection to keep the momentum up
10. Travel towards Clark compound on clear/wet Interstate
11. Follow all-wheel drive non-descriptive pod SUV that is doing 10mph
    
12. Turn onto Clark compound street and follow the melty ruts down to the front of our home

We all had a great time, despite the physical and climatic setbacks we experienced. It's always nice to see family that we don't see often, and the dinner was superb. We all want another get-together, but next time I'll take the ibuprofen before we get there!

Best Wishes to you from The Clark Family!