Many Merry Christmases!

We had several wonderful family Christmases again this year. On December 15, Ed's father, Frank, and his uncle and aunt, Crist and Shirley, came over for lunch. Joey had a wonderful time playing with his new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse from Frank.

On Thursday, December 20, we loaded up the car and headed to mom's after work. We had a blast with Bob, Mom, Scott, and Charity. On Friday, we enjoyed a day of relaxation, and then Bob's daughter, Monica, and her husband, Rick, came over for dinner. Scott and Charity made the best pizza for everyone - Joey ate 2 pieces!
On Saturday, we celebrated Christmas. I made Grandma's coffee cake for brunch, and then we opened presents. Bob and Mom gave Ed an awesome Steelers Santa hat, and I got lots of needed kitchen stuff. Scott and Charity gave all of us adorable ornaments with pictures of Joey in them - of course they're even cuter with Joe's picture in them :) Joey received some wonderful gifts from everyone. Bob and Mom gave him a table and chair set and a talking barn with animals. He loves eating snacks and working on art projects at his table. He also received a talking elephant with carrier from Scott and Charity. It's so cute! My favorite gift that Joey received was an adorable cooking apron from Mom. It's blue and white striped with a train on it. He loves to help me cook - well, mostly he loves licking the beaters! And he looks so cute wearing it.
Christmas dinner was so much fun! Scott made the potatoes, Charity made fantastic green beans, I cooked the ham, and Mom made the sweet potato casserole. Mom was a little worried that she'd be exhausted with all the cooking, but we ended up doing most of it, which was so much fun and, I'm sure, nice for her to have a break. After dinner, we all watched 'White Christmas'. Joey loved all the singing! When he woke up on Sunday morning, he wanted to 'watch movie, mommy'. :)
We had a wonderful afternoon and evening in downtown DC. We visited Union Station and had dinner there. It was so beautiful inside. Joey told Mom that everything was 'gorgeous!' After visiting some shops, we stopped at the national Christmas tree. What a neat experience! There were small trees surrounding the large one - each small one represented a state, and the ornaments on the trees were items representative of that state. There was a really nice nativity scene, too. Around the base of the national tree, were several train track with small villages the train went through. There was a stage area where there are often performances, but because of the rainy weather that night, there was no live entertainment. Bob told us about the many times he's sung on that stage in years past - He's practically famous! Scott and Charity traveled home to Ohio later that evening. It was so nice to spend so much time with them.
Mom had to work until 3p on Christmas Eve, so Ed, Joey, Bob, and I enjoyed a leisurely morning. Bob's daughter, Nikki, and her girls joined us in the early afternoon. Nikki has a daughter, Amani, that's one week younger than Joey, and they hadn't seen each other since Monica's wedding in June 2006. So this was the first time they were old enough to really play with each other. They sat together at Joey's new table for snacks and to make stockings and snowmen. Their favorite game was chasing each other around the island in Mom's kitchen. Made me wonder how mother's of twins keep up with rowdy toddlers! Mom bought this great foamies things for the kids. So all the kids spent the afternoon making stockings, snowmen, and snow globes (for the older girls). Rick and Monica joined us for dinner - Joey and Amani ate their dinner at Joey's table. It was so cute to watch them eat their dinner together. After dinner, everyone opened presents. It was a little crazy with so many kids, but so much fun to watch them all open gifts.
Ed and I loaded everything up on Christmas morning and headed home. We drive right by Ed's mom's home when we travel to and from Mom's. So we stopped and had Christmas dinner with them before finally heading home. Ed was off work the rest of the week, and I was off on the 26th, so we really enjoyed a day of rest and relaxation after all the excitement.

That Friday, December 28, we loaded up again and headed to Ed's mom's for Christmas with his brother and nieces. The nieces, Hannah and Hayley, are 19 and 16, respectively. They had such a blast with Joey and he loved playing with them. We had a wonderful weekend of game-playing, guitar playing, and visiting. Hannah and Ed introduced Joey to 'Guitar Hero' and Joey loved playing the guitar. So much so that Jean, Ed's mom, bought him a guitar at Wal-mart. It's black and silver and looks and sounds like an electric guitar. When they got it home from the store Joey sat down and played it for 2 hours! He also loved watching the monkey the girls gave Ed. It has a red hat and vest and flips over.
Joe loved visiting Ed's uncle and aunt, Dale and Arlene. They own a farm with lots of miniature donkeys, goats, and a dog. Joey was so excited to see the donkeys - aside from dogs, we're pretty sure they are his favorite animal. He loves riding and petting them. He also enjoys talking with them :) Joe also had a wonderful visit with Ed's grandma, Irene. She has recently moved from assisted living to a full-time nursing home. She has adjusted very well to the move, and we're so glad because the home is very close to Jean's house.
We had a great time, but were definitely ready to get back to the norm. It took a few days to settle back into our routines, but it was worth it! Now I just need to start playing Joey's birthday party! I'll be glad when February gets here :)