'Mom, are we there yet,' I asked as I sat in our silver Durango on the highway headed north to my grandmother's house for Christmas. The trip was about eleven hours long and with only one headset to the DVD player, a nightmare. My sister, Nikki, is eight years old and is very persnickety.
'No, we have four hours left,' my mom said. I sank into my seat and moaned, so well I was wasting time I started to think about what we would be doing at my grandmother's house.

After sitting in the car for eleven long hours, I was free. We made it, all the way from Texas, to Iowa. I was so excited to see my grandmother. I stepped out of the hot and squashed car, and onto a white blanket of snow that lined the driveway. As I walked slowly to the big front door, I couldn't contain myself. I rang the doorbell with shaking hands and waited impatiently as my grandmother opened the door. I opened the screen that divided us and gave her a huge bear hug.

As we were welcomed into the warm house, I paused for a few seconds to realize that I was glad to be at a place that I loved. Over the next few days, we went to visit my grandma at her work and hung out around her house. We played games and baked holiday treats for my cousins. When Christmas Eve finally came, my sister and I were very excited to see the rest of our family.

Christmas Eve at my grandma's house is very special time for us to spend time with one another. We hang out, have a delicious dinner, and open our family presents. The moral of the story is that it is important to spend time with the people that you love. They have things that are very valuable to teach and you have things to learn.