Pre-Christmas Celebrations

Christmas was extra special for Grandma this year because she had her whole family together for the first time in three years. We tried to make the most of the limited time we had together so on Friday the boys and I headed over in the morning to see G-Momma, Auntie Laurie, and Uncle Peter, help with minestrone soup prep, and to wait for Kyle and Kari to return from visiting friends so that we could see the girls and meet Lydia. It was a great day of hula hooping, hanging out, playing outside, and catching up. Reed and Annaliese were so excited to see each other they ran across the room screaming the other one's name and giving each other the biggest hug when they saw each other. The next day, Christmas Eve, we returned again and managed to fit in some cookie decorating and games before we had to say our goodbyes for the day.

Nonna's Birthday

This year to celebrate Nonna's Birthday we decided to go to Zoo Lights. C bought tickets a few weeks ahead of time and the night we chose ended up being freezing cold but in the end it worked out great because there wasn't much of a crowd, the kids got to spend a ton of time with Santa, and there wasn't any type of waiting at all. The light exhibits were neat and I think we combined three of Nonna's favorite things - Christmas lights, her family, and a trip to the ice cream shop after! The kids all adore their Nonna so much and we had a great time making her the center of attention for the evening or at least trying.

On The First Day of Christmas

This year Pepe's side of the family decided to celebrate Christmas a week early and do away with the annual gift exchange to make life easier for everyone. With a jam-packed Christmas weekend ahead it was nice to be able to spend an entire evening in one spot and with family we don't get to see all of the time. This celebration is usually one of the last of our Christmas festivities and therefore I'm pretty burnt out with picture taking and rarely take more than a picture or two. This year I pledged to do better, and although I didn't get pictures of everyone I did take quite a few more shots than in the past few years. The highlight of the evening was when the younger kids heard Santa's bells outside and we found a bag full of gifts on the front porch!

Lynette, Auntie P, and Emily

Emily and Kyle

C, Zach, and Jennifer

K and Pepe hashing a plan

Margie, Nonna, and Jon

Lyla having her fingernails painted by Megan

Lyla painting K's nails