Christmas

Oh dear, I should not have let so much time go by in between posts. Now I have way too much to write about! Well, our Christmas week began on Sunday, December 20th with the arrival of Ricardo's mom (Mima) and her husband (Opa). The kids were really happy to see them and wanted to play with them right away. Mima and I took the kids out on Monday morning for some shopping at the mall while Opa stayed home to work. Ricardo came home at a decent hour in the evening so we all had dinner together which was great. On Tuesday, Opa and Mima took the kids to the Children's Museum and to Chik Fil A for lunch. I stayed at home and had my first 3-hour stretch of alone time in the house since we've lived here. It was fabulous. I got so much cleaning and organizing done that I wanted it to go on for another 3 hours! As soon as they got home (at 2pm), I headed out to do errands and to pick up Indian food for dinner. On Wednesday, Ricardo only worked a couple of hours in the morning and so we were able to all hang out together during the day. Tio Robi and Tia Dani (Ricardo's brother and his wife) arrived around 6pm that day and the kids were ECSTATIC!!! Alexia immediately attached herself on to Daniela and did not let her go until she left, 4 days later! Diego was attached to Roberto, but wasn't quite as emotional about it :) I cooked up a delicious meal of vegetable and fish tempura. We put the kids to bed and then we all enjoyed a grown up dinner together. On Thursday (the 24th) the real festivities began! I made eggs Benedict for breakfast which was a huge hit. Everyone headed out for a little outing while Daniela and I stayed behind to cook, cook and cook some more. One of the stops of the outing was to Michael's to buy canvases for Roberto to paint with the kids. The paintings turned out beautifully and are now hanging in the playroom. Maria Jose arrived around 5pm and we were finally a complete family! We had our huge turkey meal with all the fixings around 7pm, tore into the presents, had dessert and the kids went to bed around 10:30. The kids received lots of fun gifts from the family and were thrilled to open each and every one of them. It was a really fun night and we all enjoyed the festivities.
On Christmas morning we had a continental breakfast and headed out the door for church at 10am. 10am is not early for us, but when you're talking about getting 9 people ready, it certainly does not leave a lot of time. The Christmas service was beautiful and was the perfect time to calm our hearts and to reflect on Jesus' arrival to this world. Diego and Alexia sat in the service with us and Alexia did great sitting on Daniela's lap and Diego sat with Roberto. After church we went home for leftovers for lunch and just hung out and enjoyed being together. Maria Jose had to fly back to Miami in the afternoon so that is why we did the big meal on the 24th. We decided that we wanted to have a special Christmas dinner, but did not want to cook so we decided to do sushi takeout which was fabulous! Gwen and her kids came over for dinner as well as another friend from church and we had a really great evening. We enjoyed our sushi banquet and then put a movie on for the kids while the grown ups played a game of Cranium. We had a blast playing and almost continued on to a second round, but the little ones were getting cranky so the fun had to end. As soon as the guests left, Gracia, Freddy, Roberto, Daniela, Ricardo and I sat in the upstairs living room and played an impromptu game of "how well do you know your partner" and ended the night with tears of laughter.
OK, so I was going to continue on, but think I'll leave it there to spare you dear readers. Keep in mind that I am printing hard copy books of the blog so it is fun for us to have some of these details to remember in years to come. I will continue on with the week of New Years later in the week...


The kids watching Charlie Brown Christmas with Opa and Mima. They all loved being cuddled up together.


Diego and Mima


Tio Robi and Mima


Alexia all bundled up on Mima's lap

The painting started outside, but after the sun went down, we transferred the studio to the garage. Everyone had a blast painting!

Before we bought the canvases, we asked the kids what they wanted to paint. Alexia asked for a car and Diego asked for a house.

These are the finished products. It is hard to tell, but the kids contributed greatly to each painting. I just love how they turned out!

Alexia insisted on putting on Daniela's boots. Such a diva!

Roberto and Daniela after Christmas dinner

Alexia would have nothing to do with anyone while Tia Dani was around, not even me. She wanted to be with her at ALL TIMES! It was adorable.

Here we are on Saturday morning, enjoying apple puffed pancakes. Notice where Alexia is!

Tio Robi and Tia Dani gave Diego a remote control car which was the highlight of the week! Here he is maneuvering it around the dining room. Alexia is terrified of the car and must be held as soon as it is turned on.

Farewell cuddles for Opa...

...and Mima