Friday, January 11, 2008

Happy Birthday Jesus!

“you’ve spent over 12 hours with my family!”  that’s what kaitlyn said on christmas evening.  she had invited me over to spend christmas with her family, and after a morning church service, lunch, gift swap, snacks, board game, and more eating, i had indeed spent the entire day with her extended family.  in fact, now that i know what her family’s like, i wouldn’t have had christmas any other way.  well, i take that back; if world peace were possible, that might’ve been a better christmas.  but besides world peace, christmas with the hekstras was up there.

kaitlyn had invited me over for christmas the last day of exams before the break.  i was just finishing up my work shift, and she was about to head off for her last exam.  i’d told her that i had some plans, but if they fell through, i’d let her know.  my plans fell through.  so on christmas morning, kaitlyn drove over from cutlerville and picked me up from my house.  we headed to her home church, and upon arrival we were greeted by her sister and brother-in-law, along with a packed church.  once seated, i “met” kaitlyn’s mom, who was on stage playing in the bell choir.  after the service, i “met” everyone else.  i use the word “met” very liberally because i didn’t remember a single name.  don’t get me wrong, i didn’t forget their names because i didn’t like them.  they’re great folks, and i just met too many great folks at once.  scientists call it sensory overload, and my lack of brainpower means i’m really bad with names.  that’s why i’m not a science major, because i can’t memorize a thing!

so after the service, we stopped at kaitlyn’s house so people could change out of their sunday clothes.  kaitlyn’s mom also whipped up a salad, which i got to sample later.  did u know that ketchup could be used in salad dressings?  i had no idea, but it sure was good!  while waiting at kaitlyn’s house, i got to chat with her family a bit.  turns out her older brother, scott, is also a young life leader (i forgot to mention that kaitlyn’s a young life leader too.  that’s how we met!), which made conversations easy.  eventually we headed out for the grandparent’s house, where the entire hekstra extended family would gather for christmas lunch.

the first thing i noticed about the grandparent’s house was the horse barn.  turns out kaitlyn’s grandpa was the first person to bring friesian horses to america.  now there are thousands of friesian horses at horse barns throughout the country.  i got to see some of these magnificent horses later in the afternoon.  the rest of the time, i was either eating, arm wrestling little kids, playing pool, shooting emo photos with kaitlyn’s cousins, losing at settlers, or just chatting.  i’d say it was a christmas well spent.

Posted by Nehe555 on 01/11 at 03:21 PM
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