Growing up in Arizona, Christmas was always spent in Flagstaff, at the home of Mom's parents. Now that I live in Michigan it is harder to get out there for Christmas. And after four years it was time to see my grandparents and spend the holidays with them.
A Dixon Christmas is full of laughter and loads of fun. We started this tradition about 10 years ago and it is still going on. On Christmas Eve before we open all the presents, we have this $10 gift exchange. Everyone (which also includes my aunt, uncle, and cousins) picks a gift from a pile of unmarked gifts or trades with someone who has already opened a gift that he/she wants. After several rounds you are stuck with what you have. We roar with laughter and all have a great time!
Being "home" this Christmas, also gave me more time to share with my grandparents about my work and ministry involvement. They are not Christians so this is one way I can witness to them of how good God is. I pray often that they will make a decision to follow Jesus and experience the joy He can bring to your life. 
One of the best things about being in Arizona was seeing the beautiful places I knew as a kid. There is the beautiful San Francisco peaks right there in Flagstaff. And an hour and half a way is the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful with the snow on the rim.
On the day we left we drove through Sedona and its red rock formations. This drive is so beautiful!
We took the Sedona detour because the southbound interstate was closed due to an accident. What should have taken us 40 minutes became a 3 hour detour because of traffic congestion and another accident. That meant we missed both afternoon flights out of Phoenix and had to wait for the 11:30 pm red-eye flight. We arrived in Detroit at 4:30 in the morning and slept on the airport floor for a few hours. We were supposed to catch a plane to Grand Rapids at 9:00 but it was delayed due to the winter weather. We couldn't get out until 1:30. To make matters worse, our luggage didn't make it on our plane and we had to wait for two more flights to arrive from Detroit before our luggage came in. By the time we got home at 10:00 pm we'd been traveling for 34 hours! It felt so good to be home!!
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6 comments:
Hmmm... I really, really want to go to the Grand Canyon before we move away from CA. I'll have to put that on my "to do" list. :-)
Looks like it was a wonderful Christmas!
Very super to read some new blogs. Happy Sabbath! I think God gave "New Moons" in the Bible for the family time that modern day holidays do. The blessing of families...
Joelle, you must visit the canyon. It is fun to hike part of it too as long as you are not scared of heights.
Micheal, I agree that families are a huge blessing! I'm so thankful for mine!
wow, what a time getting home! I have always wanted to see Arizona. It looks so pretty there. Anyways, it was good to see you yesterday Staci. Thanks for talking with me about your job and what your thoughts are about how to live more fully for God. It was encouraging. Have a happy week!
Wow, that was a long trip! Glad you made it safely at last! Sounds like you made lots of memories though that will outlast the fatigue of the long ride home!
ahem, it's time for an update!! Christmas was over almost 2 months ago. ;-)
J/k. I know that you're busy. But you can keep us up to date on life in general...
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