The Merriest of Christmases

      HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  Hope you all are enjoying yourselves! I have been blissfully unplugged and surrounded by family.  In my opinion, being with family and friends is the best part about this entire season.

Santa Paws came early this year!

     I unfortunately had to work Christmas Eve until about 6:30 p.m. but as I drove in, I found myself thinking: Wow, I am selfish.  I have to work for four hours and I'm complaining.  After I'm off work, I get to go spend the night with my family, then go home to warm house, wake up tomorrow morning and open presents.  I'm pretty lucky.  So even though I missed family dinner, me working the shift meant that my coworkers were able to be at home with their children - which made me feel pretty good.  Work was... comical(?), as the men ran through the store, literally throwing things in their mad dash for last minute gifts.

     Usually on Christmas morning, my sister wakes me up around 4 a.m. and we open our stockings together (which Santa always brings upstairs and puts at the foot of our beds),  This year, however, she did NOT wake me up.  She instead opened her stocking without me!  I was deeply hurt.  When I woke up, I discovered a snoring sister and no stocking to be found.  When I opened my bedroom door, I found my new stocking sitting right outside (Santa is tricky!)  My old stocking was embroidered with a cat in a Christmas dress on the front (it's a lot cuter than it sounds).  I love that thing and I was a bit hesitant to part with it to be honest.  It was still in perfect condition so I decided to hang it up every year as a decoration and leave my new one out for Santa.

Santa was very good to us!

After the flurry of wrapping paper and chaos of bows being thrown... 

Remember "The Goat Project"?! This card was under the Christmas tree!  I got my goat!  Favorite present ever

     I spent from Tuesday afternoon to Friday afternoon in New Jersey at my maternal grandparents'.  There was family constantly filtering through my grandparents' house during the week.  By the time my mom, sister and I arrived on Christmas Day afternoon, my grandfather was exhausted from all the chaos.  Three little ones running around, adults swarming in and out and my grandmother fussing over him and everyone else!  My little cousin Ryann slept over and spent the following day with us.  My mom, sister and I took her to the local playground.  We could only spend about twenty minutes there before we were completely frozen, it was that frigid!

Ryann and Aunt Bonnie (My mom)

RAWR!

Up high 

These goofballs

Slippery slide

Ryann zooming

My sister and I frozen from the cold!

     We visited my Grandpa at his rehab center, but unfortunately my Aunt Pam and Uncle Randy had to work and miss out on the festivities.  We took over the dining room and visited.  Dinner out at TGI Friday's afterward was interesting; when fourteen of us are together in an already crowded restaurant, we can get a bit rowdy!  There are a lot of us and we are quite a noisy, dramatic bunch but it was the first time in ages that we all got to be together and it will probably be some time again before it will happen again.

My mom, her older brother Jimmy, my Grandpa and my Grandma (Little bro Randy had to work)

Half the clan - we had a few people missing and others taking pictures, but this is a beautiful picture! 

      I hope you all enjoyed your holidays!  More to come about the rest of my Christmas travels!