Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Home for the Holidays

I was so blessed Joe & I got to spend Christmas with my family this year. I hadn't seen them (except for my mom when she came out to visit) since March! So I was LONG overdue for a visit. And since Joe & I have been together, this was the first year he would experience magical Christmas morning at my Moms. ~So much to be excited about!
 
Sunrise as we were taking off from Spokane airport.
We arrived in Cleveland at 4:30pm Christmas Eve and came home to an appetizer extravaganza, family, and pile after pile of presents. We all opened one gift (which is always a pair of pajamas for Christmas morning), played games, and laughed the night away...
Fun with handcrafted mustaches I made.
This picture cracks me up...
I don't think I realized I was standing off by myself. 
 
hmmm Q, I can't determine which is the real thing!
So good to be home.
I spent a lot of quality time with my Brothers & Sister this trip.

Christmas Morning.

My Sister and her boyfriend, Carl.

Between all the home cookin' and bottomless cookie trays,
I definitely gained a few pounds!
 Christmas Evening we all went to my cousin Theresa's house for a small family gathering. That's her, holding her niece, Ivy.

It's been a whole year since I've seen this little cutie.
My how they grow so fast!

My cousin Bill & I
Funny thing...my brother, Corey just got a job at Target. Hence the red hoodie. Well, while we were there, Joe got a gift certificate to a sports store that he was eager to spend...he ended up getting a red hoodie.  Just.Like.Corey  :)   so the joke was that Joe wanted to be just like him.
I got a chance to check out my younger brother's new house he just bought. He's a tough cookie to get to smile.

silly Corey, he can make you laugh all day
 During our visit we had dinner at Quentin & Melissa's.



Melissa double fisting it?
chocolate wine on the left and red on the right.
Two Peas in a Pod

Brotherly Love


mom & me
Told you it was hard to get this boy to smile.  ~Ryan sporting his new flannel he bought while we were in town. hmmm I wonder where he got that idea :)

Showing him how he can roll up his sleeves.  
(haha, he's clueless in this department!)


Minus not meeting up with a few friends, my trip was Perfect... Family Time, Home Cooking, Handcrafted Gifts, Stockings, Pajamas, Beautifully Wrapped Presents, Game Nites, Sleeping In, Lots of Laughs, Cookies, Greys Anatomy Marathon, TWILIGHT marathon, and a few puzzles...

I LoVe you guys and miss you so much already. Thank you for another year of memories, I will always Cherish. xoxo

5 comments:

Felicia said...

YAY I got to be the first comment!!! :) Thats what I get for stalking your blog like a creeper! haha I love all of the pictures, and I can't wait for it all to happen again. I miss you already and can't wait to come visit you someday! Love you!

Felicia said...

I want all of those moments back. I want to re-live it all right now. I miss being able to see you when I want! I miss it all!

Siri said...

I didn't see any buckeyes on that cookie tray! Haha good ol' Ohio:) You inspired my Mt Spokane pics when you and Joe went snow shoeing. Now I can say I have been too! yay! Glad you had a good trip!!

Kelli said...

sniff sniff, okay this post made me cry. i know how much you cherish your family, and i love that about you~your family means the world to you! i am so glad that you and joe were able to spend christmas with your family, back home. i absolutely love that your mom gets your christmas pj's and you open them on christmas eve...i do the same with liv & nolan and determined to do that for years to come. the mustaches turned out awesome :") your trip sounded absolutely perfect. you got some great family pictures too! can't wait to finally see you this week. we've missed you! love ya~
ps~love that you had a twilight marathon ;)

LAURA said...

I'm so happy you got to go home Tab. My friend Dana hosted a mustache party last summer and it was hilarious, such a cute, playful idea. Looks like your Mom makes the same cookies as mine:) And BTW, is Joe wearing Grinch pajama bottoms? If so, I like him more already.