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Max and I have just returned from one of the most amazing holidays ever. Why was it so amazing? Absolutely no stress.

Carol, Max and I went down to my brother's house in Firth, NE yesterday morning and had such a terrific time. Jim and Janet are pretty wonderful hosts and spending time with their kids is pretty incredible.

We pulled in about 11:00 and began dragging our stuff in. I saw loads of food already in preparation for dinner. Whee! (they're also great cooks). A traditional dinner with way too much food and then the post holiday nap.

Jake and I put a puzzle together, we all watched football and movies, ate pie, snacked on leftovers, played games on laptops and snuggled with each other.

This morning Jim was cooking again - he makes a mean breakfast pizza. While we did some more hanging out (and more football and more puzzles), he was making even MORE food - a fabulous chili for lunch. Emma took off to see her boyfriend and Matt went to hang out with one of his best friends.

We finally left about 3:30, came home to crash and prepare for a ... weekend! Now, how cool is that? I have a terrific holiday and then have a quiet weekend to follow.

Max and I were driving home from work on Wednesday and were getting a little giddy about the holiday. We worried that we were building it up to be too good to be true, but today on the way home, Max was shutting his eyes in the back seat of Carol's car ... "this was better than I could have expected." And he was right.

I love my family.