Christmas 2016

After nearly a month hiatus, I'm finally back!  What can I say, Christmas is just really busy around here (plus, I STILL can't stop watching Hallmark movies at night when I'm supposed to be doing other things).

I will primarily be doing pictures just to make this go faster.  And on that note, let's get this thing started.

Before I transition to the trip north, when Christmas really starts (!!), I'll wrap things up here at home first.

Plague # 8 - Locusts.  Kids had to find locusts hidden all upstairs.  Aubree had bought a bunch of squishy ones at a consignment sale and I thought it was really dumb at the time but they ended up coming in handy!

Plague # 9 - Darkness.  I blindfolded the kids and then they had to identify various objects using their hands.

Plague # 10 - Death of firstborn. We couldn't bring ourselves to harm this guy here so we skipped it.  Ha!

Went to a lovely Christmas party at the Hilliards complete with a White Elephant gift exchange which is quite interesting when you have 40 kids/adults.  Brady got an adult gift several times so Duncan and I took them in order for him to pick a new one when our numbers were called.

Now that Duncan is really and truly an AHS employee (as opposed to FH), we went to the AHS Christmas party this year which was held at a nice park in Winter Springs.  Duncan didn't get the "wear green" memo for our family.

They did a great job on the party even having some live reindeer.  When Colby saw the reindeer he says "Oh, is Santa in town?" This picture is only a smidgen of the total party area as there were thousands of people in attendance.  I also got to see some old friends I used to work with and of course, my dear friend Stephanie in town from Texas.

I love it when the whole menu is vegetarian!

The next evening I took the kids to Celebration to meet up with Jennifer, Vasti, and Katrina for dinner and to let the kids play in the "snow."

The "snow" turned out to be soapy bubbles but I could have sworn when I was there years ago that it was real snow (manmade, of course).  Aubree especially was really disappointed in the bubbles but they did end up having a (dirty) blast anyway.

Note to self: Bring change of clothes next year.

While out at Once Upon A Child getting some last minute clothing items for up north, Aubree spotted this doll.  She runs up to me and says "It's Kit.  It's an American Girl Doll!!" It was only $6.50.  Clearly someone messed up really bad, big time.  Our gain though!

Last week of ice skating and Brady passed into the next level.  Now all three of them are in the same level, pre-alpha.

We left for my parents on Wednesday morning, December 14.  After our successful flying experience for Christmas last year, we decreed that we would always fly from now on.  Of course, the downside is that it's so expensive to fly around Christmas, particularly coming back since it's right after Christmas.  The way up is usually pretty cheap since it's far enough in advance.  I kept delaying and delaying the purchase of the return home which we wanted to do on Monday, 12/26.  It was like $300 and I was hoping it would go down since it was still three or four months away.  Finally, about the beginning of October when I saw that the price had gone up to now over $400 a ticket (one way!), I knew I had to just do it.  We did have some miles we could use and I also had Duncan's voucher from the summer when his flight had gotten cancelled on his way up to Maine.  It was good for 50% off a flight.  So I go in to book the flight and it asks me for Duncan's voucher number.  I put it in and low and behold!!  It took 50% off all SIX flights!!  I was so happy and also a bit mystified as to whether it was really supposed to do that or not so I hurried up and booked it.  As annoying as it was for Duncan to be delayed by about 20 hours getting to camp meeting, that snafu saved us $1,250 so I'd say it was worth it! Thank you Southwest.

Megan doesn't work on Wednesdays so she was able to take us and our 12 checked bags to the airport.  What would we do without free checked baggage?? We had extra room going up because we knew we would need it for bringing gifts back.  But mercy, just ice skates and winter outerwear takes up a whole bag!

Jennifer made me a bunch of Christmas cookies to take up.  We got the bright idea to give them out to the fight attendants and others who did things for us.  It was SO much fun!  One flight attendant told us she wanted to cry that it was one of the nicest things someone has done for her.  We will make it a tradition each year!

Umm...Duckon?

The flight went great with me sitting with Colby and Calleigh and Duncan had Brady and Aubree.  Both my parents came to pick us up in separate cars which was a big help.  Did I mention we had 12 bags??

Colby held out as long as he could be he couldn't quite stay awake all the way to Papa and Gigi's.

Thursday morning we headed out to Natick Mall and Duncan was delighted to find a Tesla store inside.

Camden and Brady strolling the mall.  Camille arrived with the kids shortly after we did on Wednesday.  Unfortunately Shawn had to preach on that next Sabbath so he had to wait to come down.

Photo courtesy of Camille.

The American Girl store at the mall.  Calleigh and Aubree were waiting for this day.  When they finish a year of piano, they get a new doll.  They decided that instead of getting a regular doll, they wanted to get a Wellie Wisher that was half the price of the big doll so that they could also get a second Wellie Wisher to give to their cousins.  So the same amount was spent in total but they were able to get four dolls this way.  I think Acadia and Winnie were happy with the surprise!

Friday we went to the Christmas Village at Jordan's Furniture.

The bigger kids went to a 3D version of Polar Express.

Colby and Winnie were too little so Camille and I took them to Costco where we basically ate lunch based on all the samples.

On Sabbath, Aubree sang "Away in A Manger" for special music at the Braintree church.  So proud of my girl for having no problems with singing in public!

Our one and only snowfall of the trip happened Sabbath morning (17th).   They were able to play for awhile before getting ready for church.  Later it got warm and rained so it didn't stick around long.

After a potluck at church, it was off to Newport, Rhode Island where the family once again had the privilege to stay for two nights thanks to the generosity of Aunt Lori and Uncle Charlie.  Last year the entire family was there but this year we had to do without Jonathan Wall and family, Aunt Sherrie (who got sick), and Jen who just had baby Landon a few weeks prior.  We still had most of the family though.

Impromptu snowball fight upon our arrival with Tyson and Westin with the little snow that was left.

Just after we got to our rooms, Aubree hit into Colby's head which caused her very loose front tooth to finally come out (after some more wiggling by Duncan).  A very dramatic experience as you can see.

The girls with Hudson.

Uncle Kevin and Dad.

Devin, me, and Rad.

All the second generation cousins save Zasha, Luccia, Landon (who was just born!), and Griffin who had stepped out somewhere.

Hanging out with Mia.

Going on a walk through Newport.

The grandparents watched the kids on Sunday morning while the eight cousin couples went to breakfast.  They broke up into teams to build gingerbread houses.

Calleigh was the captain of her team (Aubree and Camden of the other two) and I thought it was cute that she picked Winnie with her first pick to have on her team (and then Colby next).

Most of the boys.

I guess we didn't get a girl cousin photo (where are you Alison??) but Camille is a pretty good stand in.

A picture of the missing tooth. Acadia lost her bottom one a few days after Aubree.

Sunday evening, we took a stroll through the streets along with Dad.  It was so wonderful.

And...my favorite part.  Everyone watching the game together.  This year it was the Broncos again and again we were victorious! Monday morning we checked out to head back to my parents' but not before getting the awful news that my mom had to go into work.  Every nine to fifteen months the state comes into her nursing home to do an evaluation and the fifteen months was up at the end of December.  You never know when they will come.  Unfortunately they picked pretty much the very worst week.  My poor mother had to work Monday - Thursday of that week with all of her family back home having fun.  It was torturous for us too, though, because we had to make our own food.  Just kidding!  Kind of.

Even though there was barely any snow the whole trip, the kids went skating SIX times which really made up for it.  It has even inspired Duncan to skate so he can do it with them.

Not skating yet but he's signed up to start in a few weeks!

Tuesday we went to Boston City Hall where they've set up a beautiful outdoor rink and a bunch of shops.

I paid to skate and get rentals and as soon as I put them on, I was in complete pain.  They were so uncomfortable on my bunion.  I skated for 30 seconds just to say I did it and then immediately took them off.

We went and ate at Quincy Market afterwards.  One of my favorite places at Christmas.

On our way into Boston, we stopped at my mom's nursing home to see Bob who is now a resident there.  He seemed very pleased to see us.

On Wednesday afternoon, my dad took Calleigh, Aubree, and Camden to the radio station so they could do the Christmas program as they usually do.  This time the program actually aired on Christmas morning (it airs on Sunday mornings) so we listened to it Christmas morning before we opened presents.  It was the first time I had heard them so that was neat.

Got some shopping in at Patriot Place before the radio show and had to take a photo to prove we were there.

Wednesday night Gigi babysat while the rest of us went out shopping.

Thursday was the Pops.  As is our usual tradition, we first went to Cheesecake Factory at the Prudential Center.  We were very worried my mom wasn't going to make it to the Pops since we weren't sure what time the state would leave but thankfully they left in time and she made it! We have gone to the Pops as a family for at least the last 25 years in a row and we didn't want it broken.

Love seeing Aubree with her arm around Camden as we wait for our seats at Cheesecake.

Brady seems to have a thing for Winnie.  Several times over the course of our time together, I would see him caressing her hair or whispering in her ear.

You can see to the right of Aubree's eye that she sustained a hockey injury when Calleigh accidentally hit her with a hockey stick.  We hope it was an accident, at least.

The Pops was great as usual but I did leave disappointed when they didn't play "White Christmas" as they usually do during the encore.

Friday was basically Christmas Eve for us in regards to shopping since the real Christmas Eve was on Sabbath.  I did feel like I was a little rushed at the end of my shopping but that's how it goes sometimes.  It was also a little Christmas though for us too.  Ricky and Ana left the next morning to go to Ana's relatives for the rest of the holiday so we opened presents with them on Friday morning.

Even though some of our group (Duncan) are down on Panera, I always love to stop here for lunch during Christmas because it's so cozy.  Santa also happened to be in the store but Colby was too scared to talk to him.  I'm not really clear if he thinks he's real or not.

Winnie helping Gigi with the green beans.  I got rather nostalgic thinking about Calleigh helping Gigi in this same kitchen years ago as a 2-year old (I think I must have been watching videos of it lately).

These three weren't with us at Panera because they were on a special trip with Gigi.  She takes just the three of them shopping and out to lunch each Christmas and they look forward to it so much.

Dinosaur gift from Uncle Ricky and Tia Ana.

Friday night Freddie, Kathy, and Bruno came over and we exchanged some gifts with them too.

On Sabbath it was my dad's week to be at his Norwood church and he had asked all the grandkids to be a big part of the church program by doing music.

Aubree was going to play and sing "Silent Night" by herself but she wasn't loud enough on her own so my mom had Calleigh sing with her.  Of course, you only ended up hearing Calleigh because she held the mic next to her own mouth but I loved having Aubree play the piano and hearing Calleigh sing.

The girls singing together.  But let's not be fooled.  Winnie was the star!   The song was "Christmas is Here" by JJ Heller and I'm guessing Winnie (like my girls) had never heard it before this season but she knew EVERY word to the song.  And she's two!

Calleigh playing "What Child is This"

Aubree did a reprise of "Away in a Manger" like she had done the week before but Winnie was happy to sing with her.

The kids (along with Bruno) singing "Joy to the World." This cracked me up.  Look at Winnie.  She was so unhappy because she couldn't have the mic!

Colby during the children's story.  He was just playing with the poinsettia instead of paying attention to Papa.

Sabbath afternoon we had a little rest time and then it was time to begin our regular Christmas Eve festivities.  Kelly, Steve, Caleb, and Kaitlyn arrived just in time to accompany us caroling.  The funny thing about caroling was that several people answered the door in their Patriots attire or in one case, their pajamas because they had been at the game earlier and were so chilled from the rain, they had put their pajamas on as soon as they had come home.  We had to warn them not to tell us the score  because we had recorded it and were going to watch it after the caroling.  We took it as a good sign though that they still had jerseys on.  And indeed, the Patriots slammed the Jets 41-3.

Found a great deal on Christmas jammies at the Gymboree outlet that the kids opened on Christmas Eve.  They were very excited, especially Calleigh who is so into matching clothes.

Christmas Eve game time.  Trying to put the boxes in order based on shaking them and hearing how many bells were in each box.

Apparently Calleigh was the one who figured it out for this team.  We played some other games too but evidently I didn't take any pictures.

The kids had to build a "snowman" for one of their games.  This is Caleb and Colby.

Christmas morning.  Presents finally under the tree and ready to go!  My dad went and picked Bob up at the nursing home so he could still be with us on the big day.

Stocking time.  Aubree, in particular, says she likes doing her stocking more than opening the gifts.

Uncle Charlie opening one of his ties.  The kids love hearing his "WOW!" every time.

Calleigh's big gift...a Gronk jersey.  Aubree was pleased with her Edelman too. Aubree's came from Target where the jerseys are considerably cheaper than the Patriots pro shop where we had to get Calleigh's.  They had no Gronk sizes for Calleigh at Target so we had to get her the authentic one instead.

Acadia and Winnie with their big gifts, double strollers for their dolls.  Acadia is wearing an old fashioned dress we found at a yard sale and it fit her so perfectly and she looked adorable.

Another yard sale find.

The boys got hockey jerseys but I think he mostly cared about this lollipop.

Shawn and Camille gave us some wonderful pictures from our photo shoot in Nova Scotia.  I love them!

Rad and Jen popped in for a quick visit so we could meet the newest cousin, Landon Latimer Case, born December 2.

Getting in some Monopoly Deal.  I was not successful.

Christmas photo op.

Shawn and Camille left that evening and then it was down to just my parents and us. Monday morning it was time to get in one last skate.  The skating really made our Christmas and the kids had such a fun time with it.  This time we were at a pond in Walpole, the next town over, and for whatever reason, the Boston Fox affiliate was there for the day taping some segments on skating and pond safety.  We were basically the only ones there in the morning so they ended up interviewing both Duncan and me and also recorded my dad out on the ice with the kids, mic'ed up. They aired the segment on the 4:30 news which my mom recorded and they played the Duncan part of the interview.  But then when they posted it to their website, Duncan was out and I was in.  So I guess we both got our 10 seconds of fame!  Meanwhile, you can see and hear my dad with the kids.  Click HERE to read the article and watch the clip.

As I was packing up to leave, I discovered there was another toothbrush exactly the same as mine.  GROSS!!  I have no idea whose it was.  Both went into the trash pronto.

Time to catch our 7:15 pm flight.  Colby found a neat way to get around.  I thought the airport would be a zoo (at least by Providence standards) but it was pretty calm.

And so ends Christmas 1.0.  A wonderful time was had by all and I'm super sad that it's already over. As someone posted in a meme on the 26th, only 364 days until Christmas and I can hardly wait!!

Life goes on and at least we had Christmas 2.0 at the Gregory's to look forward to. Here are some pictures from that event and some leading up to it.

Brady reacclimatizing to the Florida weather and the fact that there are flowers out at this time of year.

On 12/29 my Aunt Mary turned 80 so we met some of the family in Mount Dora for a birthday lunch.

We ate at the Lakeside Inn and it was a beautiful spot.

The kids loved running around in the big field after lunch.

Heading out for some shopping with dad on Friday (he had the day off)

Christmas 2.0 at Ron and Elaine's on New Year's Eve.  Duncan found a piece of bread in his stocking and also some random ping pong balls.  Those at least ended up going with a ping pong set he opened later.

The girls screeched like the girls they are when they opened a bunch of matching clothes.

Colby as very happy with his dinosaur.  He's very into dinosaurs right now.

A calico critter house for the girls from us that I had gotten off eBay.  It was supposed to be opened at my parents but it never made it there.  Long story.

The girls actually stayed up until midnight and watched the ball drop which in my opinion, is one of the most overrated things ever.

The boys playing with one of Brady's gifts the next morning.

Duncan had Monday off for the New Year's Holiday so we decided to be tourists and walked around Disney Springs.  They have a new Coke store there and we were so excited when we found the "Beverly" drink that we all had tasted and hated at the Coke tour in Atlanta on our trip.  The employee gave Duncan a free taste of it.

We ate at the T-Rex cafe for lunch and I couldn't take my eyes off Colby pretty much the whole time.  The place is filled with giant dinosaurs that move and make all kind of noises.  It was like he was in dinosaur heaven. Our table was in a cave portion and the lights kept changing hence why it was red.

No comment necessary.

Our next experiment in our Science book was the Diet Coke/Menthos one so it was perfect to have Dad be in charge of it.

We discovered that when you put it in a 2-liter of cold Diet Coke, it is a lot smaller of an "explosion" than a warm bottle like the first picture.

So this happened.  Duncan made Harvest Cheddar soup in the Vitamix and we somehow convinced Brady to eat it.

I literally had tears in my eyes.  He's never, ever eaten soup in his life and never, ever tries anything new.  He ate about 10 spoonfuls.  I was SO happy (the soup has celery, onions, potatoes in besides cheese and apples so he ate VEGETABLES!) In closing, we are so excited about this wonderful news! Get ready for Brace cousin # 8 coming June 4!!  Have a wonderful week!