“It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you be of good cheer
It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

The lyrics from the late Andy Williams’s hit song, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” are a perfect description of the season. The feeling of anticipation with so much to do, so many places to go and people to see, and Christmas in the air.
The gift of an additional week between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day this year tends to eliminate the sense of urgency and it always fools me because suddenly Santa is on the chimney top and I’m still flying around getting ready for the jolly old elf.
We’re more excited than ever this Christmas because our youngest in the family, Lachlan Herndon, 17 months, and Bennett Vann, 22 months, are old enough to fully understand the sights and sounds of Christmas this year. And what fun that will be.
We’ve been decorating the house by degrees but we still have a long “to do” list and finding the perfect tree is right at the top.
Meanwhile, until the big tree is in place and decorated we have plenty of other nooks and crannies to fill with Christmas cheer.
Meanwhile, we’ll take a break Saturday afternoon to watch the 2018 SEC Championship game on CBS-TV when our UGA Bulldogs meet No. 1 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Since many Dawg fans and Alabama supporters call Americus home, I expect a pretty big crowd of Sumter fans attending. Cheer the Dawgs for me, y’all.
Last week Ellen Hanson and daughter, Quinn Hanson, and friends, George Anne Cook of Sandersville and Janelle Cable of New Orleans, experienced a different twist during Thanksgiving vacation. They were visiting Chicago and awoke Sunday morning to hear their return flight to Atlanta was cancelled because seven inches of snow blanketed the city. Fortunately the Blake Hotel, where they were guests, extended their stay and they got a flight out Monday. Before the snowfall, they had a great time including going to the Christmas Parade then an Italian dinner at Carmine’s on Thanksgiving Day. They also toured Millennium Park and the famous “Bean,” the Willis Tower, the original Sears Tower, and the Aquarium when it was too cold to even venture outside. And in memory of Ellen’s mother, who had flaming red hair, they stopped by the Red Head Piano bar, where the pianist played Zac Brown’s “Chicken Fried” which had everyone in the place jamming. What a fun trip.
Family reunions, which are so much fun, were on tap for Ty and Laura Kinslow. Their son, Banks Kinslow, an insurance broker in Auburn, Alabama, and daughter, Kathleen Kinslow, freshman at AU, were home. They gathered Thanksgiving Day at the home of Ty’s parents, Melvin and Wilma Kinslow, and were joined by Kelley Kinslow and son, Clay Hendrikson and daughter Millie, 5 months, of Brunswick and Katie Tondee and son Tyner, nine months. Unfortunately Josh Tondee had unplanned gallbladder surgery that day and couldn’t be there. Laura and Ty also visited her mother, Elaine Lanier in Montezuma, and were joined by Laura’s sister, Lisa and Johnny Mitchell of Macon.
Jimmy and Nancy Poole enjoyed a family reunion with daughter, Carmen and Stephen Boehme at their new home in Vestavia, Alabama, and were joined by their son, Dr. Charles Poole of Atlanta. Bardin and Hayden Hooks and toddler son George Hooks spent Thanksgiving weekend in Sunnyside, Florida. And Sarah and Steve McClain went scuba diving in Bonaire in the southern Caribbean all last week. And Brent and Kathryn Fowler Moore spent Thanksgiving with his parents, Wayne and Melissa Moore, in Lambert, Mississippi, and Brent was an usher at the wedding of his childhood friend Taylor Clayton, and John Roy Flowers.

Leila Sisson Case lives in Americus.