Safe Arrival

**Update to Original Post**

Here are some pictures of the ice storm that hit on Friday, the morning we were planning on leaving for Michigan for Christmas break. 

This is the limb that almost hit our van.

Lord, you are good and your mercies

endureth forever.

**Original Post**

Well, we made it into Flint without any problems. We woke up yesterday (Friday) morning to the aftereffects of a bad ice storm, and were shocked and awed to see a huge limb (as in, practically a third of the tree) merely feet from the back of our car. We have a large, ancient Chinese Elm in front of our house that we had the city trim up over the summer because of some problematic limbs, and obviously some of the larger, heavier ones on top just couldn't stand the weight of the ice. Steve went out and took pictures (which I'll post eventually), and then we stood in front of the window and thanked Jesus and our lucky stars that the van had been spared.

We'll be parking in the garage out back for the rest of the winter, thank you!

So we had ice on our end, Steve's folks had 10 inches of snow and freezing rain on their end, and everything in between was ice, snow, and rain. Both sets of parents were discouraging us from traveling, but, being the foolhardy optimists we are, we left around 1:30 PM and made our way to Michigan. We stuck to the interstates and didn't encounter a lick of trouble, unless you count a minor traffic jam in Indiana due to a wreck. The roads were perfect, the kids were relatively patient, and we even got to stop at Cracker Barrel and enjoy a family meal together. Granted, it was a very rushed meal and we were the only ones there under the age of 65, but we're old souls and we fit in just fine.

Hurrah for a great trip!

We're here, safe and sound, enjoying the beginning of our relaxing vacation and being spoiled by parents and grandparents alike. Shoot, I'm a fan any time someone else wants to hold, dress, change, or potty train my kids. I might even run out of things to do!

The novelty!