Wow, talk about a busy month! Amanda got her teeth straightened (pictures here), Brian graduated (pictures here), Brian flew to Dallas for an interview (results are pending), we had Christmas in Silver City, and are going to go to San Diego for New Year’s pictures here.

For Brian’s graduation, a lot of family attended: Brian’s wife (Amanda), brother (Brad), mother (Sue), mother-in-law (Kitty), father (Steve), step-mother (Jan), grandmother (Dannie), grandmother-in-law and friend (Polly and Vernell), grandfather (Jack), uncle (Steve), aunt (Jolene), and cousin (Samantha). Afterward, his aunt and uncle threw him a graduation party at their house, then we went to the Living Christmas Tree concert.

For Christmas dinner, there were 14 people at Amanda’s grandma’s house: Amanda and Brian, Amanda’s brother Chris and his wife, Melissa, Amanda’s sister Laura and her 2 kids, Brad and Natasha, Amanda’s uncle Chris, his girlfriend Linda and her son Shane, Amanda’s grandmother and her high school friend Bob, Brian’s mom, and Amanda’s cousin Andy. There was a lot of good food and good conversation.

Everyone was supposed to leave Polly’s house on the 26th, but nothing ever goes as planned. So, Brian, Amanda, Chris, Melissa, and Shane (the 120 pound dog, not the kid) left Silver City at 1:00. We got as far as Bayard (10 miles out of Silver) and the truck broke. So, we waited on the side of the road for a long time, then decided to take out the front drive line and limp it to Las Cruces (100+ miles away). We went another 10 miles (30 minutes worth) and decided to go back to Silver. In the meantime, we could only drive 30 miles per hour, so we had to drive on the shoulder. So, Murphy’s Law (what can go wrong, will), Amanda ran over something sharp on the shoulder and got a flat tire. The mechanic won’t be able to fix Chris’ truck until at least Thursday, and they have to be back to Fort Hood on January 2nd. Amanda got her tire fixed–and this is the best part about the day–and it was at no cost. Big O was the only place open, and they didn’t realize that she has gotten new tires since seeing them several years ago! If you have Big O tires (or if they THINK you have Big O tires) all rotations, balances, fix-a-flats, etc are free!! So, Brian and Amanda made it back to Las Cruces at 10:00 at night, only 9 hours after leaving Silver City (typically a 2-hour drive!).

So, now that that adventure is over, we have to hurry up and recover so we can go to Sea World and the zoo in San Diego. We leave Thursday (12/29) afternoon.