Getting there

It's a Michigan Christmas year for the Allemans.  And the first snowstorm of the season hit eastern Iowa Wednesday night into Thursday.  The weather stayed warmer longer than they were predicting, (un)fortunately.  So we didn't get the foot of snow they predicted (yay!), but we got a lot of rain before it dropped below freezing.  By the time we took off on Friday, the highways were solid ice, topped with packed snow.  I don't think we drove over 35 mph for the first one hundred miles of our journey.  Not a promising start to the trip.  Thankfully, the roads cleared up about halfway through Illinois, and the rest of the trek was smooth sailing.  And Jonah was a trooper for the most part, although he did get a little sick of being in the car.

First stop on our trip was Grand Rapids to see some old friends.  On Saturday morning, we had breakfast with Brandon's Hope roommates, then I met up with my roommates for a late brunch.  And later in the afternoon, we all gathered for a chili potluck-style dinner.  It was a day of food, friends and laughter.  Great start to our trip!  I managed to take a few pictures of our time in Grand Rapids.

Second generation friends :)

Mark and Haven, Brandon and Jonah, Matt and Kate

Santa was off "feeding the reindeer", but that meant his chair was available for pictures!  

Always fun to try and photograph several small children.  Here's the best shot I got.

Leyla (2 months), Haven (11 months), Jonah (9 months), Kate (13 months)

And a group shot from breakfast

After our day in GR, we piled back into the car to complete the final leg of our journey home for Christmas...