Christmas in New Hampshire

On Saturday, we made our annual pilgrimage to New Hampshire to celebrate Christmas with the O'Connor side of the family.  For the first time in several years, there was no bad weather to dampen the festivities and we were all able to enjoy ourselves without keeping one eye on the sky.  From the moment we walked in the door, the cousins had a wonderful time playing together - Elizabeth and Emily simply adore Meghan, Kate and Jillian - and the gift-opening frenzy was an all time best!  It was great for me to have the chance to visit with my siblings, who I don't see very often (and sometimes only once a year!).  No doubt about it, a great time was had by all!  Although the pictures below are mostly of the kids, all of the adults participated in our annual yankee book swap.  Truth be told, it was not as frenzied as in years past (like when Sarah Palin's biography was up for grabs), but by the end, there was quite a bit of book stealing going on.

Cousins 

Elizabeth is so excited about her FurReal pet! 

Happy, happy girl! 

Helping Katie open her gifts.

Meghan was excited to get Season 1 of Glee. 

And Jillian was pretty excited about her new spa towel from Justice. 

Elizabeth holds up her annual ornament from Uncle Mike and Auntie Sandra, her godparents.

Opening more presents. 

Emily loved her FurReal kitten. 

Katie is so excited about receiving Guesstures.

More great gifts! 

Emily was thrilled about receiving a Zhu Zhu pet garage from Auntie Grail. 

Sitting down to a fabulous dinner. 

Meghan left early, heading out to her first high school (gasp!) semi-formal.  Before she left, she agreed to pose for a few photos, including one with my parents.  What a grown up and gorgeous girl!