I went upstairs to wake up my 18 year old brother, Stephen, and then soon after my parents heard us down stairs and they came down. Stephen and I opened our stockings, and then we opened our presents. I remember getting Need for Speed Undercover and a few other little things like Saved by the Bell Season 1&2 DVD, but it seemed like it wasn’t as much as we had gotten in the past years. And there always seemed to be a surprise every year, but not this year. After we finished opening all of our presents, my mom asks, “Did you get everything you guys wanted?” My brother and I replied “Yep.” But I could tell she knew that we were a little bit dissapointed.

Right after my mom picks up her phone and says, “Santa?” acting like he was really calling her. She pretends to answer the phone and then tells us there there are some more presents in the garage. Stephen and I run downstairs and there are two big boxes, one for me and one for Stephen. There was also something small on top of them. We go back upstairs and open the boxes. Inside was a brand new Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop. We were shocked. I had even asked my mom if she had gotten me a laptop for Christmas a few days before and she had said, “No”, so I was in awe. Inside the little box was Office 2007.

Later that day we all went to Gram’s and had a blast. Christmas 2008 was definitely a Christmas I will never forget.

“I know!” she said with her classic Cindy smile. She walked in and sat down as we started to munch on all of the delicious snacks Gram had made for us.

“How has work been going Cindy?” said Gram. “I know you have been working in the emergency room at North West D.C. Hospital.”

“It’s been going really well! Actually, I remember the other day when I was working and this lady came in and her tongue wouldn’t go back in her mouth.”

“That’s hysterical!” I said as I started to laugh. Cindy always has funny stories about her job. I’ve always wanted to go with her to “Take Your Child to Work Day.”

“Well I know you really like what you do and you do a great job of doing it!” replied Gram. “I’m still laughing from when you and Madison sang that “Big and Chunky” song from Madagascar 2.”

Cindy started to sing, “I like ‘em big. I like ‘em chunky. I like ‘em big. But not that chucky!”

I immediately started bursting out laughing as I felt tears roll down my cheeks.

“That movie is awesome!” I said.

“We have to watch it again!” Cindy said.

“Yeah I know!” I replied.

“I still remember what a great time we had at your graduation from George Mason University,” said Gram.

“Yeah, that was really fun,” I added.

“Thanks guys,” said Cindy.

“Remember when that Asian lady randomly posed for our picture as if she was a part of our family,” I added.

“Oh yeah and Uncle Bob was joking that she was your mom’s biological mother because he always teases her about being adopted.” Cindy replied.

“Oh my gosh!  That was hilarious!” I said.

“Yeah I know.” She said.

“I had so much fun last summer at Disneyland with you and Natalie,” I mentioned to Cindy.

“We had a blast! Did you see the pictures on Facebook?” questioned Cindy.

“Yes! They were great! I really hope we can go next year.”

Just then some more family came in the door and we went to greet them.

“

My uncle works for Delta, so he each bought my mom and I buddy passes to come down, each costing about $80. A buddy pass is basically just like flying standby. You go to the airport, wait for them to call your name, and then they seat you in the plane based on the experience of the Delta worker who gave the buddy pass to you. Delta workers are only allowed to give away 8 buddy passes a year, so I was really thankful to Uncle Bob. And since he has been working for Delta for 20+ years, my mom and I got to sit in first class.

The flight was really great. It was only an hour, but it was really fun. I knew that flying first class was a once in a lifetime experience. The service was awesome. There was one flight attendant for just first class, and there were only about twenty people or so. Overall I really enjoyed it.

After the flight, bob met us at the gate. I think the Atlanta Airport is so much better than Dulles because in Atlanta you don’t have o take the stupid mobile lounge to go to the other terminal. Once we got out of the airport, we headed over to Bob’s $80,000 Lexus SUV and drove to his house.

The first day we were there we went to the 737 simulator. It was incredible. Bob’s son Rob was visiting with his kids, and he is in the Air Force so he knows how to fly too. The sim was so realistic. When we got out it felt so weird because you felt like you just got off a plane. It was defiantly an experience I will never forget.

The next day we just hung out around the house and talked about everything. It was really fun to talk to everybody. I hadn’t seen everyone in a really long time and it was fun to catch up. That night we all ate that the Speedi Pig, a restaurant Bob’s son Andrew really likes. It food was great and it brought back a lot of memories of the family.

Our last full day in Atlanta we all went to the Georgia Aquarium. It’s actually the biggest aquarium in the world, with six different exhibits. All of the exhibits were really amazing. It was really fun to see Rob’s kids having such a great time. Overall we had a really good time.

The next day my mom and I got up and headed for the airport. We really didn’t want to leave after a really short visit, but we had to. Luckily, we got first class.

One of the best parts of the trip was the flight back home. Before we took off, the flight attendant announced that there was a soldier on board and that they were going to upgrade him to first class. I thought that was really awesome.  I really gave a lot of credit to Delta for doing that because I doubt the other airlines do that.

We called my dad when we landed, and he was there right at the gate when we got off. On the ride home we talked about the trip and all the fun we had. I hope we get a chance to go again next year.

It was the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving, and we had been waiting around the whole day waiting to go to the airport to pick up my cousin Natalie, 24, and her daughter Madison who was 5.  Their flight didn’t land until nine that night, and we had been pretty anxious the whole day.  Madison and Natalie had recently moved to California, due to Natalie’s finance Rob’s new job. I hadn’t seen them in so long and I wasn’t sure what I was going to do or say when I saw them.

My mom and I got to Gram and Gramps, about to go to Dulles to see Natalie and Madison. We all got in the car and started the ten minute drive over to the airport.

During the car ride, we didn’t talk very much. We left the house at 8:00, even though their flight wasn’t going to land for an hour. I knew that it was going to take forever for them to get there, and I wasn’t really looking forward to the wait. Gramps has always been really prepared for anything that might come, and I knew that he wanted to leave early just uncase there was any heavy traffic.

Of course, we got to the airport at about 8:15, and we all sat down at in the chairs by the doors in which Natalie and Madison would be coming in. My mom and I went over the mini gift store to buy a soda and get a magazine to read.

The time seemed to go by really slow. I basically stared at the wall for an hour, waiting for someone’s cell phone to ring and say that Natalie and Madison would be here any minute. I glanced over to the clock, and saw that is was about 8:55. Right about that time Natalie called and said that she and Madison had just landed. Even though they had landed, they still had to take the shuttle to the other terminal so it would still be about another twenty minutes.

 After another long wait, I went over the doors and watched for Natalie and Madison. I glanced over at my grandfather. He was so excited that I thought he might just have a heart attack right then and there.  He and my grandma had taken care of Madison since she was six months, and he had missed her terribly.  I looked at him, his eyes fixed at the door, his body shaking, his heart pumping, he blinked a few times and then I knew. 

At that moment I saw Madison running thought the doors of domestic arrivals, so happy to see me, so excited to be in Virginia, so happy to be home.