Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my readers. I flew to Knoxville, TN where I met my brother Jon, and together we made the rounds -- first to my hometown of Hickory, NC for Christmas, where we met my brother Nathan (fresh back from his Naval tour of the Middle East) and my new baby sister, Hannah Cabrini; followed by some time hiking/camping in the Wilson's Creek Wilderness Area and the latter part in Asheville, taking in the sites with my mom and relishing some real Southern BBQ. More photos here courtesy of The Pertinacious Papist.

Photo: Christmas Eve 2005; Nathan, Christopher and Jon enjoying some quality male-bonding before dinner; absent and certainly missed is our brother Jamie, the "inveterate Augustinian," visiting his in-laws.