We got the tree through the door & are ready to head to Minnesota!

As Larry mentioned, we did head off to get a tree the next morning. Things can change quickly here in the McDaniel household and unfortunately, the morning's change effected Larry. Having come down with a bad case of the flu bug, he sent the kids and I off to get the tree without him since it was the only time that we had with all four of the kids available to come along.

Although the morning was a little cold, there is still no snow here and so Amanda did great on her crutches. Caleb and Abby lifted her onto the wagon and then, together with others who wanted to cut down their own tree, we headed out to the fields in search of the perfect tree.

"Perfect" is in the eye of the beholder and at our house that means big and round! I love fat Christmas trees and the consensus is that we found the biggest one yet! The kids found it right away and although we wandered around for a bit - just to make sure - we came back to it and cut it down. What a wonderful time we had; the smiles and the laughter proved that it would have been a loss to us all if we had decided not to try this Christmas tradition. Now we just have to figure out how to fit our family into the room around the tree!

Tonight we began packing. Tomorrow afternoon Amanda and I will leave for Minnesota. Thank you to each of you who have had this day in your prayers. For a short time it looked as though it might be in jeopardy. Authorization from the state Medicaid department has not yet come through and the down payment was too large for us to attain. Thankfully we learned today that the company would accept the amount we had, will go ahead without the Medicaid policy number and will allow us to participate in the conference and then work out the balance afterward. This was truly an answer to prayer.

We are so excited for Amanda and all that this conference represents to her. I can't wait to post from Minnesota and tell you all how it is going. (And when we get back...there will be pictures!)

Time to go enjoy the lights on the tree.