It was definitely colder as we left Sandau Haus at 7:30am to head to Michigan.  By God's grace, even though everyone including yours truly woke up on the wrong side of the bed, we were able to regroup and recommit to an enjoyable trip and interacting with each other with gentleness and understanding.  We stopped at about 10:30am in Bloomington IL to attend church at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Bloomington, where my friend and classmate from seminary recently started as pastor.  After hanging out for a bit and taking a tour of the facilities and talking ministry, we headed toward Michigan.  It was windy and very cold, but inside the car was delightful, everyone behaved very well and got along well.  We got to Michigan at about 4:15pm which immediately became 5:15pm with the time change.  We dropped the kids off at Maya's mom's house and after greeting our relatives briefly, Maya and I took off to my parents' house to unload our car topper and visit with my mom, who is still undergoing cancer treatment.   It was wicked cold up by the lake (my parents live near Lake Michigan) and getting stuff unloaded was quite the adventure with all the straps and locks and everything frozen.  I still wonder sometimes why people choose to live this far north.  However, having said that, it is so great to be home!  Christmas Eve tomorrow . . .