Christmas in Connecticut

Celebrating Christmas continued with our trip to Connecticut to see Grama Barb and Aunt Linda. Uncle George and his family traveled to Connecticut too. Grandma was happy to have her children and most of her grandchildren there. The kids had a blast together, running around, having dance contests and opening gifts. It is so neat to see them all get along so well.
Our final Christmas celebrations were eating lunch at UNOs with Nick working our table. It wasn't an ideal way to celebrate but he did get a chance to open his gifts between bringing food to the customers. We then brought Katie back with us were we celebrated once again, this time at Grandma and Pop Pop's house.

Christmas 2009

What a great Christmas. Sophia clearly understood that Christmas meant waking up and seeing gifts from Santa and spending time with family. Of course spending time with family also meant opening more gifts!!

Christmas Eve was spent making cookies for Santa, making a gingerbread house, going to church and leaving a note for Santa.
Joy filled the house on Christmas morning when Sophia came down to find that Santa did indeed leave her lots of toys. She got a kitchen set which she LOVED. She immediately started making coffee and cooking breakfast on it. She also got a Leapster which she tested out and ended up playing a game for quite some time.

Grandma Beadle, Grandma Bev and Pop Pop came over for brunch. It was nice to spend some time with them on Christmas. Sophia made gifts for her grandparents. She felt so proud giving the gifts to them.

After a wonderful visit we packed up the car to head to Connecticut for another Christmas celebration with Grandma Barbara. We left around 5:00 PM so went straight to the hotel. Sophia could not wait to see everyone in the morning.

SNOW!!!

22 inches of snow!!! Amazing!!

It is very rare to get any snow here never mind 22 inches. We had a blast digging out, making snow angels, having Boba pull Sophia on a sled ride. The roads took several days to be cleared and schools were closed so we had lots of time to play. It may not snow on Christmas but we will certainly have a white Christmas.

Getting Ready for Christmas

Christmas is such an exciting time of the year. The anticipation this year is tangible. Sophia is over-joyed with the thought of Christmas. She loves every aspect of it. She loved putting together her list for Santa. She loved decorating the tree. She has been making gifts for family and friends.

No doubt the Grinch was right when he said, "What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more." Seeing the joy that comes from the anticipation, taking time to celebrate as a family, making gifts from the heart and remembering that life is all about enjoying these moments is something you can't buy from a store and truly means so much more.

First Snow of the Season

These pictures say it all. We got a couple inches of snow on December 5th. Sophia could not wait to go outside to play. We had a blast. We took the dogs for a walk at the park. Sophia then played in the snow making snow angels. She went sledding with some neighbors before we had to head in. It was a wet snow which made us both cold. We went out later that night after the snow stopped and made a few small snowmen. It was so much fun!!! I am not sure who loves the snow more, me or Sophia.

Visit with Santa

We went to the Baltimore and Ohio train museum to visit Santa again this year. Sophia made a list of things she wanted for Christmas. It was quite the list. She cut pictures out of toy magazines and taped them into a little book. She asked for a toy kitchen, a Super Why computer, a ride-on Thomas toy, a microphone, Leapster and other toys. She sat with Santa and reviewed her list. She was so brave this year. No tears this year. After reading the list together we took several pictures.

Sophia decided to take the train ride with Frosty this year. She was a little shocked to see it wasn't a real snowman. She understood that if it was a real snowman it would melt. She was glad Santa was the real thing and not in a costume. We took some time looking at all the trains including the toy trains. Sophia can not wait until Thomas the Tank Engine comes to the train museum this spring.