My grandmother, June Hudson Akin, passed away three years ago this month and it’s hard not to think about her this time of year. The movie, White Christmas, with Bing Crosby and Danny Kay is a family favorite and it has been on TV a lot lately. June liked this movie, too, and she particularly liked the song, “Count Your Blessings.” June worried a lot about her family and she prayed a lot for her family, so this song was especially perfect for her. I’m sitting here right now watching White Christmas and just heard the song and felt a little nostalgic for my sweet grandmother who loved her family and always fell asleep counting her blessings.

When I’m worried and I can’t sleep
I count my blessings instead of sheep
And I fall asleep counting my blessings
When my bankroll is getting small
I think of when I had none at all
And I fall asleep counting my blessings

I think about a nursery and I picture curly heads
And one by one I count them as they slumber in their beds
If you’re worried and you can’t sleep
Just count your blessings instead of sheep
And you’ll fall asleep counting your blessings

We had an amazing time in Chicago this past weekend… when we finally all arrived in Chicago. Mom and Dad flew into O’Hare on Thursday and spent Thursday night there. Todd and I left Columbia to drive to the airport in Charlotte at 2:00 a.m. on Friday for our 6:00 a.m. flight. We were in Chicago by 7:05 a.m. and at the Fairmont by 8:00 a.m. We all had breakfast together and then went out to brave the wind and cold. While it was cold, it really helps when you have the right garments to protect yourself. Walker and Lauren were delayed and didn’t arrive in Chicago until around 8:00 on Friday night. While Mom and Dad went to a black tie event for the event my dad was attending, Walker, Lauren, Todd, and I entertained one of our brother/sister traditions and dined (painfully) at Ed Debevic’s. We realized, once again, what a small world it is as our waiter turned out to be a guy that came to Youth for Christ meetings with Walker at our house in Indiana. After Walker successfully offended a small boy and his parents, we left the restaurant and called it a night.

On Saturday morning, we decided that it was a “Ferris Bueller day” and Lauren needed to experience some of the more famous destinations in Chicago. We didn’t have time to do everything that Ferris, Cameron, and Sloan Peterson did, but we purchased tickets to the Sears Tower from our hotel concierge and were at the top of the United States (formerly the top of the world) by 10:00 a.m. We decided to mark the occasion (and make my dad laugh) by taking this picture titled, “I Think I See My Dad.”

We ate lunch at a family favorite, Tucchi Benucch, and then got Lauren to take our Christmas card picture. Unfortunately, Lauren discovered that she was too short to get a good eye level picture, so we had to turn the camera over to Todd. That’s a lot of pressure on Todd, but I think we came up with a few good options.

We went to the RedHeaded Piano Bar on Saturday night to listen to some great music and do a lot of people watching with the Chicago locals. Chicago is definitely my favorite city. The people are so interesting and have such a distinctive culture.

Mom and Dad flew out of Chicago early on Sunday morning. Before Todd and I left for the airport, we went to the West Egg Cafe with Walker and Lauren for breakfast. We had quite the wait, but it was worth it. We found a way to entertain ourselves while we waited.

I think Todd has discovered what heaven tastes like in the West Egg Cafe’s Blue Shew pancakes… full of blueberries and cashews. I was happy to see eggs and andouille sausage on the menu. I think we can confidently add the West Egg Cafe to our Chicago favorites.

When we arrived late last night in Charlotte it was a disappointing 80 degrees! It definitely doesn’t feel like Christmas around here, so I’m very thankful to have spent some time near snow and freezing temperatures. Here’s the official Christmas card picture (unless we come up with something better later).

It was so great to be with my family (and our significant others) in Chicago. I love this time of year and all of the excitement it brings. We lined up our moving date for December 29 and we’ll be leaving for Dallas on December 21 and December 22. It really is a wonderful time of year!

Every year, my family gets together to take a picture for our annual Christmas card. Of course when Walker and I both lived at home this wasn’t really an ordeal, but now that we’re all spread out across the southern United States we have to plan a time to get together and take the most important family picture of the year. The picture that we will send out to a couple hundred friends and family. This is the picture that should (hopefully) show our best sides and we always hope to look a little better (and thinner) than we did the year before. The Christmas card picture doesn’t represent our thoughts on the whole Christmas season, and we’re not usually this vain, but who really loves having their picture taken?

My mom called me a few weeks ago and we started talking about what we were going to do for our Christmas card picture for 2007. We typically get together at Thanksgiving and take the picture then, but because we spent Thanksgiving apart this year we weren’t able to get the picture taken care of. I suggested that we resurrect a picture from the Akin Family Christmas Card archives and play a joke on our Christmas card recipients. Everyone was behind this idea for a little while and I started digging through the pictures. This is what I came up with…

This picture was taken in November of 1992. We went down to the poinsettia show at the Louisiana Tech University greenhouse and had our picture taken there. The only thing I really remember about this outing is that I fell down in the middle of all the poinsettias. And that’s normal as I fall down about once a week.

I’m sharing this picture with you now because it will not make the 2007 Christmas card. After we had this decent plan worked out to use the old picture we all realized that we’re going to be together this weekend! We had completely forgotten about our trip to Chicago. On Friday, we all (mom, dad, Walker, Todd, Lauren, and me) are flying to Chicago from our respective locations and spending the entire weekend up there doing nothing but shopping, eating, and enjoying each other’s company! Thank goodness that we’ll have Todd and Lauren there to take the picture so we don’t have to ask a stranger again. This year’s picture will be the last Christmas card picture of just Hudson, Karen, Erin, and Walker Akin. It’s very exciting, but definitely monumental!

Stay tuned for the big reveal of the 2007 Christmas card picture!

Before the game, we ran into former Arkansas Governor, Mike Huckabee (who has recently been endorsed by Ric Flair and Chuck Norris). I wasn’t able to get a great picture, but maybe next year we can say that I stood a few feet from the President of the United States. Or maybe not. We’ll see.

Don’t you think that Mrs. Mike Huckabee looks scared of me?