Holiday Wrap Up

Holy smokes.  Baby Bro has posted to the blog four times since I was last on here.  It is a holiday miracle!  Hopefully he will keep it up in 2015, as I find his posts entertaining and I am missing any solid gold material he is generating on Facebook.

When last I posted, the most wonderful time of the year was still ahead of me.  Now it is over and DANG.  January through March are such garbage months.  My dad just called to tell me that it is going to be very windy and cold tomorrow and to make sure to pack my warm weather accessories.  (He should know that as his daughter, I am usually well prepared for the cold weather.  He used to always make us pack a hat and mittens when we visited people in the winter in case the car broke down.)  So I am back to reality tomorrow with a five-day work work week and most likely a long and frigid wait for the bus.  But first I will post a few highlight shots from Christmas, which was truly fantastic in 2014.

USteve hosted a lovely holiday dinner on December 22.  He provided a delicious vegetarian feast that catered specifically to me and thus was a dream come true.  USteve's edit of a family-famous book title provided some of the biggest laughs of 2014.  Since USteve, Jeff, and Christine did not spend Christmas in Maine, I am very grateful to USteve for hosting such a fun gathering and giving us all the opportunity to be together around the holidays.

Ryan sporting some new ornaments for his and Christine's tree

Mum, Jeff, and the host extraordinaire, USteve

Ryan and I spent Christmas at my parents' house this year and they also did a killer hosting job.  Nineteen family members gathered at their home on Christmas day.  My parents deserve a ginormous thank you for opening up their home and bringing the family together on Christmas.  I had a blast seeing everyone on my favorite day of the year.

My cousins Sarah, Nicole & Lynn

Dad, Nana & Uncle Bri

Pman/Uncle Pat & Aunt Norleen

Mum, Gretchen & Norleen

Two more cousins, who I will not name as I am not sure that it is kosher to post photos of kids

My dad is one of six brothers and the next generation includes six male cousins

You can see Ryan sporting his Christmas 2014 jammies in the photo above.  Here are a couple shots from the PJ photo shoot that night:

Dad, Mum, me & Ryan, featuring Sophie

Dad, Mum, me, Zach & Ryan, featuring Boots & Neville

The traditional Mike & Frank shot - Take 1

Take 2

Coming back from Christmas in Maine would have been a big disappointment if I hadn't had the pleasure of Mum's company for a night and a quick 3-day work week to return to.  I am in the final hours of my second consecutive long weekend and although the New Year weekend could not compete with Christmas (because really, what can?), it was still a nice break.  My friends the Michaleks invited me over for a tasty and fun New Year's Day lunch and yesterday I finally caught the third Hunger Games movie with Ryan and Christine after being stomped by both of them in Boggle.  Ryan actually announced, "Come on! You're embarrassing me!" during one round.  It is my plight in life to be routinely crushed in Boggle competitions.  Jeff has mopped the floor with me many times.

It is just about time to hit the sack if I am going to face an alarm clock tomorrow morning.  I can never fall asleep at a decent hour on Sunday nights, so I will probably crank through a few episodes of "Parks and Rec" for the seventeenth time before nodding off.  I know this is the time of year to make resolutions, but I am going to take a step back to November and say that I am so very very thankful for my wonderful family and friends.  God bless us, everyone.