Baba and Pappy's house

Then we went to Baba and Pappy's for dinner and to open presents there and to spend some time with Aunt Kelly and Uncle Dave.

Baba and the kids opening presents.


Alina and Maddie striking a pose with their new microphones and glam girl attire.


Nicholas the firefighter.


The girls rocking out to "All I Want for Christmas is You."


After three days of festivities, even Nicholas had to hit the booze. No seriously, we all had an absolutely wonderful Christmas! The kids had so much fun spending time with relatives and of course, opening presents!

Gee and Pappy's house

The day after Christmas we went to Gee and Pappy's for lunch and to open presents there. We also got to visit with Aunt Nat and Uncle Matt.

Nicholas helping Pappy install batteries.


Nicholas ("Little Ben") practicing his quarterback skills.


The girls with Gee and their new cameras.


Maddie and Alina with their American Girl dolls - just like them!


Nicholas trying out his remote controlled car.

Christmas at Aunt Cindy's

Then we headed to Aunt Cindy's to visit with relatives there. Nicholas really wanted to hug his cousin Breena, and he managed to catch her for one quick hug! The girls played with cute little Jonathan, making him laugh.

Christmas at Gram and Pap's

After opening presents from Santa, we headed to Gram and Pap's for a delicious meal and opening more presents. The first picture is of some of the cousins with Gram and Pap. The second is of Nicholas and Uncle Dave golfing.

Christmas Morning!!

The kids were very, very, very excited Christmas morning!! So were Ian and I - to see their faces when they saw what Santa had brought!!


Alina, Nicholas, and Maddie with their new guitars!

Christmas Eve cookies at Gee and Pappy's house

We went to Gee and Pappy's for cookies later in the evening on Christmas Eve. We had fun spending time with relatives and of course, eating delicious cookies and drinking delicious drinks!

Maddie and Nicholas helped Great-grandpa open presents.


The kiddos with Aunt Nat.


Pappy and the girls.


Nicholas on his favorite place to play - the steps!


Alina and Maddie love to play with this Nativity set under the tree!

Christmas Eve at Baba and Pappy's

We went to Christmas Eve Mass and then ate our traditional Christmas Eve dinner at Baba and Pappy's to start off our holiday festivities. The kids all liked the oplutki (sorry Mom, not sure how to spell that), and Maddie actually asked for seconds of the sauerkraut soup - something I didn't start liking until about two years ago!


The kids helped Great-grandpappy P open his presents - Alina is holding her favorite Nutcracker.


Alina, Maddie, and Pappy. The girls are holding the angel boxes Pappy made for them.


Nicholas being "Notre Dame - Fighting Irish!" Pappy made him this awesome equipment hanger - for all you PSU fans out there, he also made a Penn State decoration (and a Duke decoration) to hang in Nicholas' room. That made the Notre Dame item slightly more bearable to Ian.



The kiddos with Aunt Kelly.


Our yearly family photo on the couch.

Baking Christmas Cookies

Alina and Maddie and I got some baking done while Nicholas was napping. Miss Cathy got the girls the cute aprons! On the Monday before Christmas, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Dave stopped by for a visit, and Aunt Kelly helped us cut out and decorate sugar cookies. The kids had a really fun time!!

Santa's Visit to Preschool!

The girls were very, very, very excited for Santa's visit to their school this week. They got to talk to Santa, make Christmas crafts, and have a pizza party! Alina asked for a Hannah Montana guitar.

Maddie also asked for a Hannah Montana guitar!

Michael, Maddie, and Alina at school the day of the party. By the way, Michael asked Santa for a guitar, too. Maybe they could start a band!!

Ready for Christmas

The girls loved putting on their Christmas Eve dresses so that we could get some pictures for Christmas cards. And Nicholas cooperated for the most part!

Nicholas' First Hair Cut

Nicholas had his hair trimmed for the first time today! He was a little scared at first, but then he did a great job! Promising him a lollipop afterward really helped.

The girls also got their hair trimmed and styled because we were going to take some pictures for Christmas cards when we got home. Here are the kiddos with our hair dresser and friend, Miss An.

Bedtime Snack

Maddie, Nicholas, and Alina eating Cheerios while watching a Charlie Brown Christmas before bed. Nicholas had been pretending he was at the "pool," so he took his clothes off - and then he refused to put them back on. I pick my battles.

Thanksgiving

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving - ate a ton of food (two Thanksgiving dinners in one day) and had fun with relatives. We missed Aunt Kelly and Aunt Nat and Uncle Matt, though. We can't wait to see them at Christmas!


Alina, Matt, Maddie, Nicholas, and Dani.




Gi with cousin Jonathan (such a happy, sweet baby!). He enjoyed being entertained by the "big kids." Although, by the time this picture was taken, he had had enough.

Aunt Judi and Uncle Mac's 25th Wedding Anniversary

We went to a surprise anniversary party for Aunt Judi and Uncle Mac this past weekend. The kids had a great time! And the girls actually kept the party a secret (they didn't mention it to anyone on Thanksgiving)!

Nicholas and Gram G.


The girls and Aunt Judi.

First Christmas Train Ride

There are a lot of new pictures - so keep scrolling! I haven't updated the blog in a long time!!

The kids had fun riding the train at the mall. It was Nicholas' first ride (last Christmas he was just a little baby!), and he looked a little nervous, but afterward he clapped and said "yea!!"

More Birthday!

The girls wore their really cute outfits from Aunt Nat and Uncle Matt and Nicholas wore his new outfit from Gram and Pap G. to church the next day.


We sang again and had more cake on the girls' actual birthday - because you always have to have cake and be sung to on your birthday!