Christmas 2013

Christmas Eve we had a little dinner party. John and I, Brenna, Josh, Mark, Paul and Tracy ate some of the wahoo John, Reid and Chandler caught the day before. We had some seared and John rolled us some sushi.

Haze came over to see us...Brenna sent this picture to Megan

              We all had plenty to eat and just enjoyed a little time together. Later John took a short nap while Brenna, Josh and I drove up to Satellite Beach to see the lights on Verbena Court.  When I got back I took a little break before John and I went to Holy Name for their midnight Mass.

Christmas morning Brenna and Josh came over to open gifts with us. Megan sent them a certificate for a 2hr kayak tour. Cool! Then we all headed down to Vero Beach for the the Christmas Buffet at Disney's Vero Beach resort.

This is the 4th year we've gone. It's a nice ride down to Vero...so far it's been great weather every year...and they have a nice buffet. We took Josh on a little "tour" of the place.

This year there were a lot of people

 heading to the pool and the beach. The smell of suntan lotion was in the air!

 We took a picture of the blue sky and sent it to the Weather Channel...don't know if they showed it. Brenna tweeted it....from her new account.

wispy clouds

Brenna and Josh

 

We walked around inside and then out around the pool and then up to the Green Cabin Room to see the view from the deck up there.

it was breezy!

After we walked around for a few minutes we went back in and stopped by for the customary shot with Goofy.

It was a nice drive home...we all relaxed; and while everyone else took a nap...I started getting things together for dinner later on that night. We had invited Mark, Paul, Tracy and David over for a light dinner. At one point we thought no one was going to make it...and I had  A LOT of food...so I was a little nervous...but as it turns out Paul and Tracy and her son Carl  came, so did Mark, Brenna and Josh...and we all managed to put a pretty good dent in the roast beef, roasted potatoes, sweet potato pudding, fruit, etc. Another relaxing day and night. Turned out to be a nice get together.....too bad the rest of the gang wasn't here too.

I wish you a Merry Christmas

I can't believe Christmas is here! I still remember as a kid being so excited on Christmas Eve...waiting for Santa to come. We lay in bed listening...sure we could hear noises on the roof. ( or hear my mom and dad in the living room with the lights off...setting up the gifts around the tree. My dad would be testing out thetrains, toys, talking dolls (remember Nancy Nurse?-  "uggh uggh...I have a cough" )(I remember waking up to that sound one year...then heard my mom tell my dad to be quiet...he was going to wake someone up. haha)

When we lived in Pittsburgh...(up until my 11th birthday)My mom usually made our big dinner on Christmas Eve...figuring Christmas Day we'd all be too busy with our new toys, etc. I still wonder how she managed...getting it all together. At that time there were seven of us 14 and under...................................
In our neighborhood we had a tradition where one of the neighborhood men would dress up as Santa and if you were interested...he'd pay a visit on Christmas Eve. Parents would leave a little bag of (in our case anyway) small gifts outside near the front door. "Santa" would come around and ring the doorbell...say Hello and distribute the gifts and tell us to be good and make sure to get to bed so he could come back later. At least...that's kind of how I remember it. It was fun!

you have to Believe!

The year we moved to Florida the day after Christmas (my poor mother...haha!) he brought us suntan lotion. We each got one gift to open that year...I got a two-piece bathing suit! I was thrilled!

    We left Pittsburgh in a snowstorm...arrived in Melbourne, Florida and we thought it was summer!
                              At least my mom had one thing to be happy about...hahah

No more snow! No need for the ice skates I got on my 10th birthday...

I love getting Christmas cards...and annual Christmas pictures!

The best thing about the holidays is getting out all the decorations...love the memories when you unpack all the old familiar ornaments and Nativity sets

like this one from Megan and Marcus's wedding in May!

It's been a good year for us. Some sad times...but lots of happy celebrations this year! That's all you                  can  ask  for.........Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Ugly Sweater Party

Our friends had their annual Christmas party tonight...also happened to be John's birthday. We went for a little while...but snuck out early because John & I both have to work tomorrow.

Just happened to have this garden flag on hand from last Christmas. Elizabeth sent it to me...I knew we'd use it sooner or later.

getting ready

we hope we didn't "scare" Josh with the fact that we actually owned most of these accessories and clothes...hahah

 when Brenna fashioned her teddy bear Christmas tree sweater into a dress...the sparklers the bears were holding ended up right on her chest...Niiiiiiice! I think that's why she added the scarf...haha

new scarf from Hallmark for John -it lights up and plays music

these two sweaters were still on hand from the last "ugly sweater" party at our house 6-7 yrs ago.

At the time Brenna hit the thrift store and bought an assortment of sweaters...that way no one could say "I don't have an ugly Christmas sweater"

...tasty too!

cute holiday snacks made by Gayle

Gayle M, Mary M and John

Mary designed her sweater...hahah it lit up too!

Charlie wore some holiday scrubs

no t-shirt...no problem this guy's mom fashioned his outfit from a holiday gift bag

Looks like Santa's checking out Brenna's sparklers on her sweater turned into a dress

the host got hot...removed his sweater and figure his blinking necklace was good enough

the hostess

...check out my red loafers!

Gayle was" Grinch ed" out;  it's hard to see them...but she's got Grinch slippers on

People had some very clever outfits. Gift bags turned into shirts,a felt Christmas ornament place mat sewn onto a tee shirt, assorted head gear...lots of flashing lights...earring, necklaces, John's scarf. Duane got some Christmasy baggies just the other day as a joke from a friend...he never thought he'd wear them...but they were perfect for the party. Mary got her neighbor a really awful top...with sequins and "pearls" dangling from the design...people were telling her how pretty she looked...YIKES. She was about ready to lose her sweater too...it  had  a lingering perfume odor from it's original owner. One guy had a t-shirt with a big dog face on it...he pinned a Santa hat on to make it look like the dog was wearing it. The best worst sweaters, sweatshirts and vest were on the younger guys. They really had fun with the idea...wearing tacky vests, sweatshirts, etc...I'm talking really bad...haha You could just imagine the little old ladies who originally owned them...never knowing they end up at an ugly sweater party on a 20 year old guy...haha