The Great Break!

I guess all good things must come to an end, but this Christmas break was one that I did not want to end! We had off work/school for 2 weeks and we jammed in as much fun as possible! Here are some of the highlights:

* Anthony was in his first "play" - a 1.5 minute production (they did it twice) called Jingle Bugs - he was a snow bug. Jon was delighted to see him in his angel wings! :-)
* We celebrated Christmas with Aunt Debbie and cousins Carly, Austin and Andrew
* Christmas Eve at Grammy & PopPop's with all the aunts, uncles and cousins! We found out that we're going to have another neice or nephew! (Jeremy & Erin are the happy parents)
*Christmas morning at home! So much fun!
* We went to see Bedtime Stories (the new Adam Sandler movie) on Christmas night - it was great - the kids loved it and so did we!
* Our family Christmas gift was a trip up to NYC to see Mary Poppins on Broadway. Aunt Lizzie came with us and we crashed at her place for the night - great time!
* We got to have one last DiCo/Marty/Z get-together (minus Ashley Z. - we missed you Ashley!!). It was great to be together one more time before the Marty's head to Poland.
* We also had a day to just hang out with the Marty's - it was a hard goodbye but we're so glad we got one more chance to be together!
* New Year's Eve with friends Kelly & Orazio and their kids Orazio and baby Grace 2 1/2 months old. Always great to connect with them! We had a sleepover at their house and hung around for a bit on New Year's Day.
* A Christmas get-together with our friends the Ski's - unfortunately we couldn't find our camera that night and they forgot to bring theirs, but we had a great time together as always! It is fun to see Anthony and Noah starting to really play together more now. Sophia & Lexie have always been great playmates.

Today, reality set in for the kids and I as I went back to work and they went back to school. Jon starts back tomorrow! I guess breaks wouldn't seem so great if we never had reality!

Sharing Christmas

Last year I participated in a blogging event called "Sharing Christmas" but I couldn't get my act together in time to do it this year. But I did want to share some pics because last year's event made me realize that I didn't have many Christmas decorations throughout the house and so I got a bunch of stuff on clearance at the end of the season last year! So, here are just a few pics of our home decorated for Christmas. If you want to read about our traditions etc., you can read last year's post by clicking here.

Also our house project is ALMOST DONE! So, I will soon be posting some before, during and after shots!













We have never done an Advent Calendar before, and I don't know exactly what you're supposed to do, but we have been using it to teach the kids about Christmas. So each night when they open the door, we have 3 things listed on a piece of paper - a Christmas song, a special family or person in our lives to pray for, and a part of the Christmas story or a special Christmas memory to talk about. It has been so much fun and a great way for us to connect each night as a family - it has really drawn out the Christmas season for us and we will definitely be making this a tradition.

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Peace and Love!

A Very Happy Thanksgiving!

We went to Wisconsin to celebrate Thanksgiving (and early Christmas) with the Lowery clan - I can't even believe this, but I think it was almost 3 years ago that we were all together - we didn't make it out there last year, and the year before that when we were there, Danny & Kris were over in Ethiopia getting Caleb. So, it was very special to finally all be together again! Although, technically we weren't all together, because we are eagerly awaiting Micah's stateside arrival - Micah is Danny & Kristen's 2nd little boy that they are adopting and we are hoping they get their court date any day now! And Jeff & Darla's baby joined us inutero, so we are looking forward to having 2 more little ones with us by next year's celebration!

We had a great few days together. When we were all there, it was 10 adults, 5 kids and 4 dogs sleeping under one roof! Scott & Deann were great hosts as always! We also got the pleasure of seeing my Aunt Dianne & Uncle Jerry and cousin Jeremy, his wife Alisha and their baby Joel. It was a wonderful time of reconnecting and it went way too fast.

Sophia had a hard time parting with her cousin Brittany this time! She must have cried 4 or 5 times on the way home. Brittany is a really special big cousin that takes so much time to play with Sophia. (Thank you Brittany!)

Whenever we come away from our family, we always feel sad that we live so far apart, but we also enjoy that when we are together, we are all in the same house for several days and nights - it's a great way to bond!

Love and miss you all!!!