Family Christmas

As we do every year, we got together to celebrate with my family the Saturday before Christmas.  For the second year in a row, we were fortunate to have everyone together, including spouses and nieces/grandchildren.  It was a low key afternoon filled with good conversation and laughter, and memories that we will cherish for a life time.  As your parents age and your children grow, you begin to realize that the things you have taken for granted for so long may not exist in a few years, or even a year from now.  I think that thought was not far from any of our minds as we celebrated together.  Cherish every moment you have with your loved ones, especially during wonderful times like these.

This was a beautiful moment among cousins.

Official roast taste testers waiting (im)patiently.

Two thumbs up for Uncle Joe's roast!

Grandpa telling Meghan a story.

Cousins

Selfie with my mom.

Typical Lee pose, by this point in the day...

Love this so much.

Really hoping there is a North Face jacket in there....

Bling!

Annual ornament from the godparents.

Keep the faith.

Much to his dismay, we celebrated Grandpa's birthday - he turned 80 yesterday.  But apparently, there was a run on "0" candles, so he really only turned 8.

Nick: Week Three

More of Nick's adventures!

Flying with our angel.

Good thing the Patriots won and I got my free coffee from Dunkin Donuts; otherwise, Nick would have been in big trouble!

Nick got into our toilet paper!

Checking out (and sampling?) the gingerbread house Emily made at school this week.

Keeping a close eye on Elizabeth's fish.

Christmas Pageant

The school's annual Christmas pageant was on Wednesday and, as always, the kids did a great job (because their music teacher is so amazing).  It featured grades pre-K through 5, with the 4th graders playing the main role in the pageant - all of the grades sang two songs, but the 4th graders also were in character.  Emily was one of the three kings and she was just adorable!  The music was great and it was really fun to watch.

I'm used to seeing these two in soccer clothes, so it was a bit surreal to see them dressed as a wise man and Mary!

Leaving her present for baby Jesus.

Pre-K through 5th grade singing Joy to the World A Christmas Prayer.  Honestly, if I had any idea what it was going to sound like, I would have videotaped it.  Simply beautiful.

The king with the bling.

November Odds and Ends

Photos that didn't make a post in November:

Two thumbs up for The Taft School.

A gorgeous afternoon for lacrosse!

We did some work in the sun room and the kids and dogs took advantage of the extra space while the furniture was moved out.

Emily and Elizabeth both have math tutoring twice a week and Emily has been doing very well with her classwork - Wall of Fame material.  Of course, the math is super easy right now, so she should be crushing it.....

Froyo after the first half of a tournament weekend (and a goal for Ady!)

Ugliest sweatshirt the tournament offered.....she loves it. Wears it every waking moment (she'd wear it to bed if we'd let her).

Alice in Wonderland statue in the middle of Central Park (discovered this while on a walk after a day at a conference).

William Tecumseh Sherman statue, by my favorite artist, Saint-Gaudens.

My view of Emily (keeper in orange) for 1/2 of every indoor Sporting game.  When I described her goalie abilities as "hit or miss" the other day, one of the dads told me that she's a lot more hit than miss lately.  We are kinda proud of her.

These girls played four consecutive games, including one for the U11 team, after being called up.  Amazing work during their first weekend of indoor (they played three more the next day).

Sixth grade course records for the cross country team!

Trying out a new sport this winter.....

Every event starts with a selfie of these three.

Fondant turkey.

Man's best friends.

At the Wadsworth Museum, the day after Thanksgiving.

The girls recognized Eve immediately.  This statue is incredibly detailed, including the panels below Eve, and we must have spent 20 minutes looking at everything.