Christmas Blessings
We traveled to Wisconsin to spend the holiday with my family. For the first time since before having children (8 years ago!), my entire family would be together for the holiday. The kids were excited to travel and see all their cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. My brother also had a special surprise in the works- see below! Peyton had a hard time sitting still- he may or may not have done some tumbling in the airport...
We flew into Chicago and the kids were amazed at the light displays. It warmed my heart to see them walking through the airport, hand in hand, as they took in the wonder of the season.
The excitement grew as we found Aunt Mel and we loaded the suitcases in the car. We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house around 10 PM, and the kids had a hard time going to bed- they were hungry and jumping around, taking in all the toys, decorations, and hugs waiting for them.
When the kids awoke, Hunter screamed, "It's Christmas Eve!!!" I met a few high school girlfriends for breakfast (so fun to see my old girls!) and Peter and I made a last minute scramble for gifts for a few others. Our bags had been packed to capacity and we weren't able to bring much extra. We got ready for the Christmas Eve family Mass, and Paige and her cousin Logan sang in my dad's choir for the Mass. We were able to snag a few pictures at the end of Mass before the kids ran to the car in anticipation of our first Christmas celebration at Uncle George and Aunt Mel's beautiful new house.
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And then, Christmas Morning! The kids slept until 7 AM much to our delight- and woke to Santa's arrival and an abundance of presents under the tree! Thank goodness for Amazon Prime this year!
The next day, we met a group of college friends for a Marquette basketball game, along with my sister and brother. So fun to cheer on our team and catch up with old friends!!!
Old school technology was a hit at the airport! Their conversations cracked us up as we waited to board.
We flew into Chicago and the kids were amazed at the light displays. It warmed my heart to see them walking through the airport, hand in hand, as they took in the wonder of the season.
The excitement grew as we found Aunt Mel and we loaded the suitcases in the car. We arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's house around 10 PM, and the kids had a hard time going to bed- they were hungry and jumping around, taking in all the toys, decorations, and hugs waiting for them.
When the kids awoke, Hunter screamed, "It's Christmas Eve!!!" I met a few high school girlfriends for breakfast (so fun to see my old girls!) and Peter and I made a last minute scramble for gifts for a few others. Our bags had been packed to capacity and we weren't able to bring much extra. We got ready for the Christmas Eve family Mass, and Paige and her cousin Logan sang in my dad's choir for the Mass. We were able to snag a few pictures at the end of Mass before the kids ran to the car in anticipation of our first Christmas celebration at Uncle George and Aunt Mel's beautiful new house.
Very nostaglic as I remember taking pictures in the exact same location when I was younger!
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| grandma and grandpa and all the grandkids |
The kids sat patiently as they waited to open cousin presents and even matching jammies from B!
Paige was concerned when we got home that Santa wouldn't know where we were...so Daddy went outside to make a Santa landing strip with leaves- NOT snow. Didn't snow the whole time we were there!
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| Hugs for Mommy- so excited about his transformers! |
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| Hunter got his three special McQueens and Planes,Fire and Rescue from Santa |
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| legos! those were actually for Daddy from Santa. :)
Paige was given Isabelle by Santa, but somehow I didn't get a picture! I was enjoying the moment and didn't even have my camera out!
The whole family came over for dinner later that day, and we opened presents as a group after a yummy dinner. Pictures courtesy of my brother, Greg. :)
            the granddoggies, missing Tank,and Aunt Tiffany  
Our little family
    Time for jammies...
   And the big moment of the night...Uncle Richard proposed to Vera!!                 
The next day, everyone slept in until almost 8AM! The kids went bowling with the Uncles, and we met at our cousin's house for game night. The kids all played so well together- even Hunter! He sat right with the other boys and played Mario Cart all night!
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These three cousins were inseparable!
 and it is 20 degrees outside.  
Peter and I went up to Milwaukee on Saturday to spend some time in our old college stomping grounds. We met up with a college bestie (my roomie, Peter's track team friend) and her husband for dinner, drinks, and dancing. Such a fun night!!
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THE best cocktail lounge ever- still exactly the same as in college!
Still with velvet walls...and the brainbuster drink!
Unfortunately, the rest of the week was mainly spent on the couch as we all took turns battling the flu- didn't know it was the flu until we got home and Peyton ran a very high temperature- had the dr run the flu and came up positive. We still managed to have fun and smile through the fevers! Lots of family time spent with movies and games! Friday we headed to the airport, loaded with almost ten pounds of presents. Good thing we don't travel light!!
Hunter wanted a picture with this car- ha!
Old school technology was a hit at the airport! Their conversations cracked us up as we waited to board.
The holiday decorations have been taken down, the laundry is done, the suitcases stowed away...but we have such fond memories of Christmas 2014. Thank you to our friends and family for making it happen!
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