there's nothing better than...

...being with family during the holidays.

My parents arrived in Minnesota yesterday afternoon, and will be with us until tomorrow afternoon, when we pass them off to my brother that lives in another part of Minnesota. We'll be hanging out, doing some shopping at the nearby outlet stores, and going out to dinner tonight (it's my dad's birthday tomorrow, so we're going to celebrate).

My parents still live in the Los Angeles area, where I grew up, and they've had record-breaking heat for the last few weeks. I think they were a bit shocked when they arrived here and it was 22F. We all agree, however, that seeing Christmas lights (I have mine on at night now--special thanks to Becca for putting them up and humoring me by turning them on) and having cold weather makes it feel more like the holidays. And, to add to the feeling, we got a little bit of snow overnight. Awesome.

My sister and her family will be driving up from Kansas City on Wednesday night, and we're all going to meet at my brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner. It's amazing that three of the five children in my family ended up in the Midwest, with two of us being in Minnesota. And I love it when we have our little Midwest get-togethers, which are made even more special when my parents come--they come at least every other year for Thanksgiving.

My Thanksgiving is going to be great. How are you going to celebrate?