*sigh*

my Christmas totally rocked the house!! how 'bout all of y'alls? we went to visit my dad's family all the way in ny (btw, i love new york! :])...yay for 7 hours sitting in the car.... :P it was so much fun, and totally worth the ride! :) we drove all Christmas day, and got there around 5, just in time for a lovely turkey dinner! it was really awesome to see my cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents again! the last time we saw our cousins was probably...oh...two springs ago, maybe more, so it's been a while. it was pretty cool to see how everyone changed so much! at various times during our trip, we saw all 4 of the families who are in new york, and also cousins from texas and ohio! :) it was so much fun! the day after Christmas (wednesday), we hung out at our cousin's house (the one we were staying at) all day. it was nice just to chill and have fun. we went for our 1 3/4 mile jog/walk thing, and play scene it! :) on thursday, we hung out at the church all day with 3 ny fams, the oh fam, and the tx fam came between lunch and dinner. it was lots of fun playing soccer, hockey, ultimate dodge ball, sardines, and all-church tag! you definitely get a workout when you're with cousins (especially dad's side! :D). friday, everyone was there and we went to ha (on the way there, we saw silos, whales and elephants :]) and played dodge ball, soccer and this kickball-ish game at the gym, had lunch there and took a ride on a bus (complete with gates and tickets! :D). we went roller skating (not blading, totally different), and that was a blast! sososososo much fun! :D i love my family so much! my knees are now sufficiently bruised, but it was totally worth it! it was only my 2nd time roller blading/skating, and it was a lot of fun! :) the guys there had a bunch of fun games, and they actually played contemporary Christian music for us! after, we took the bus back to ha, played more dodge ball, had dinner, and watched "monsters, inc." in the auditorium. at the moment, i was pretty sore, and have bruises all over (including, but not limited to, my knee, hip and arm), but it feels so good to have gotten some really good, hard exercise! on saturday, we hung out for the morning and grandma and grandpa and the tx fam came over for a little bit. we left at 12:30 for our drive home. :( it took us 10 hours to get home. it was ridiculous. we stopped something like 6 times, really different from our 1 stop on the way there. oh well, we're home safe and sound, thanks for all your prayers! we had a wonderful time, and i really miss my cousins now! :( it was great to see them, though, and i can't wait for the next time we're going to get together again! :) hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and happy new year to everyone if i don't get to it later! :D