We had a very fun Christmas this past year, hosting Alex's parents and sister & her fiance, as well as my parents and brother & his wife, and even my Aunt Debbie. Alex's family stayed with us and mine stayed in a nearby hotel, but we all got together for Christmas Eve Mass followed by John Paul's baptism (Ryan and Kyle were godparents again - they are also Lucia's godparents), and celebrations both evenings/days with food, gifts, drinks, games, conversation, and fun. The only ones who sadly could not join us were Alex's brother and his long-term girlfriend. We definitely missed them!
I realize that with our three kids, and the promise of more grandkids on the way (it's now a race between Kyle and Christian versus Ryan and Tiffany - maybe in a year and a half or two, one or both of them will have a baby!) - when both families get together, we are quite a crowd! I'm looking forward to many more fun gatherings like this.
Here are pictures to commemorate the events.
Lucia, Grandma, and John Paul:
Tom and his martini:
Alex and his martini (he was the bartender this night):
Magdalena reading Olivia:
Cute one of JP awake and alert (three weeks old - and how he's five weeks, time sure flies!):
Grandpa and JP (I think this was the only time he held John Paul the whole visit!)
A quick visit from my friend Julie and her son Miles - here she is holding JP:
Cute one of the kids playing:
Miles and Magdalena giving each other a big hug!
Godmother Kyle, Uncle Christian, and Grandpa - even though Magdalena's godmother is my cousin Jordan, she still calls Kyle Godmother:
Kyle's birthday is Christmas day, but we celebrated with a real birthday cake on the 23rd. Magdalena really liked it:
Alex took his family (and the girls) to Olympic Provisions where they bought sausage with nutmeg, chocolate sausage (made of chocolate and nuts), and liver mousse... the latter of which was not my favorite... ;-)
The girls loved watching the crabs:
Our growing family after Christmas Eve Mass before JP's baptism. Magdalena got hold of the Baby Jesus this year, and Lucia had to content herself with the animals:
Cuter?
Magdalena and the baby Jesus:
Lucia with teh lamb and the donkey:
During the Baptism - I swear JP smiled for about 15 seconds after the oil was put on his head:
Getting baptized in the water:
Our newest Catholic!
Parents and Godparents:
(A side note on the Baptism - my mom bought JP a white "suit" that was supposedly for 0-6 months. Of course, it was way too big for him, so we put the shirt on over his all-white onesie, but that was it. She later took pictures of him in the outfit, I think - but it came from a Hispanic store in Eugene. You can only imagine what it looked like in full! :-)
The girls practicing to be flower girls in Kyle's wedding:
Godfather Ryan and Aunt Tiffany (again, Ryan is known by all kids around here as Godfather):
Kyle & Christian:
Dad and the Tiffany Twisted - a martini made by a bartender that Tiffany used to work with. He asked her to name it, and she gave it a name from the infamous line in Hotel California. I tried to have everyone buy martini stuff and do a tasting, but Ryan and Tiff were the only ones who really got into the spirit of it!:
Aunt Deb:
Lucia loves to dress herself, and over Christmas it was the pink tutu and white tank, often accompanied by tights...
Ama and John Paul:
Keeping up with our family's tradition, Alex made homemade pizza on Christmas Eve after the Baptism:
This has gotten so long, I'll have to do Christmas in a separate post!!
I love all the photos! Especially the family shot in front of the nativity.
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