I went back to my hometown for a Christmas visit last week, but I'm just now posting about it.
It was a good visit; I saw friends and family (sorry, didn't get pictures of everyone I got to see) and visited places in town that are new to me (since I haven't lived there in over 2 years). My oldest son flew in from Atlanta, so we got to hang out for a couple of days.
Interesting perspective: My children visited me lots of times in the many years I lived in Van Buren; I would take them to see new things and they would comment on how much their hometown was changing. Well...this time, my son and I were BOTH seeing our hometown as visitors who hadn't lived there in a while. We were amazed and delighted by visiting some things that hadn't changed, such as Paul's Bakery, Pizza Parlour, and Braums. Thank God those places are there! Neither of us have anything as good or nostalgic in our current homes. (Ok, it's not all about food, but we still have to partake of their goodness when we visit! IYKYK!)
We were also amazed and excited to see things that are different, like Arts on Main, which is delightful, and the beautiful downtown area that is vibrant with glorious color and is so alive with the community gathering there.
Also, finally a Chick-fil-A is coming! About time! Although, the traffic is already terrible in that area. I hope someone can engineer a solution to the traffic problem.
We drove through the City Park one night to see the lights there. It's so fun to see what they have done there; they have added some since last year I believe. We forgot to take pictures of them, though.
We also visited Creekmore Park in Fort Smith. Some of the pictures are from there. The line was extremely long, so we didn't ride the train. We just walked around the walking path.
Saturday night, after Jeremy had to go catch a plane, I watched the Christmas Parade. I thought I was videoing the very awesome VBHS marching band but found that I wasn’t! I hadn't pushed the record button apparently. I almost cried about that. They were magnificent.
So there aren’t many pictures of the parade because I was heartbroken I hadn’t captured the band’s performance.
I also walked around and took some pictures of the area close to the depot where the skating rink and tree are (can’t remember what it’s called). I hadn’t taken pictures of it lit up when Jeremy and I had seen it earlier that evening.
It was a great trip, and I'm pleased that my hometown is doing so well. I miss living there, and I miss lots of people there, but I'm so glad to be living where I am now, 10 minutes from my daughter, son-in-law, and grandkids. I'm also gaining new friends and have a new church family here. I'm so blessed.
I hope you all have some wonderful experiences this Christmas season, and that you remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.
Merry Christmas to all my friends and family! ❤️🎄❤️🎄❤️
