Our 4 Christmases

Too much to type at 10:24PM so I'll just give you an abridged version. We spent our first Christmas celebration at Pamma's house in Boston and had a lovely dinner. The table was set as only Pam could do; with love and thoughtfulness.













































































The next day we headed over to Nana and Papa's house and had our second Christmas with the family. He had decorated the house with 14 Christmas trees (yes, I said 14) and all the tasteful Christmas decor you could imagine. We also had a wonderful dinner followed by opening of gifts. Mike got Nathan and I Snuggies. I love him more for it too. LOL!! What a sense of humor, and yes, as soon as we got home we put them on and watched a few episodes of "The Office" DVD that I got for a gift.
























































































Our 3rd Christmas was celebrated at home on Christmas day. It was so nice to be able to stay in our PJ's and open gifts with Brayden. We didn't get him much since we predicted he'd get lots of gifts. His fun was opening any gift and playing with the wrapping paper. I had m mother over for dinner and got to take some much-needed pictures of her with Brayden. The first pictures of them together. My mom HATES (I repeat, hates) her picture taken, but I think these pictures of her with B are wonerful! I made a roasted chicken with yams and a green bean casserole followed by a Ginger-Pumpkin Cheesecake.






































































Lastly, we went to Maine this weekend to visit my sister, her boyfriend and our nieces to celebrate Christmas with them. The last time I saw my sister and her family was 4 months ago when my niece Nikki celebrated her birthday in August. We had missed them so much it hurt. I could not believe how much our nieces grew and I was especially surprised to see my oldest niece turn into a beautiful swan as she celebrated her 12th birthday. We took them all to a bowling alley to celebrate her birthday and we asked her to invited a few of her closest friends.

We had so much fun with them. We also had a first... Brayden had his first stay-over at my sister's house! I thought I'd be much more anxious about it than I actually was. Maybe it's because my sister has 3 kids and is a seasoned parent, or maybe it's because I was so tired that I was looking forward to sleeping. Brayden did really well with them and my sister got to spend some much needed time with B.
















































































Santa was very good to me but spending time with our families was even better. Now it's time to take down the tree which I'm NOT looking forward to. Especially unraveling the lights. Ugh, but I guess it's worth it right?! And so's the sweeping of a gagillion pine needles when trying to take it out of the house.