Christmas

So we had a wonderful time over Christmas break. It was too short, as it always is, but still great to be able to have the chance to go see our family. We arrived Sat night in time for dinner and put the kids down at a reasonable hour. I slept poorly - but they did ok. Sunday we woke up to an awful ice storm. I had plans to see my bff, Eileen, but was wary because of the storm (and she lives an hour and a half away). But the weather warmed up enough to melt the ice and I got to visit with her while Patrick stayed at his folks with the kids. It was great to get out and have face to face time with Eileen, even though we talk everyday. It is weird how I wasn't sad when I left - because our friendship will always be long distance, and we have perfected it as well as possible! Regardless, it was nice to get out, see a movie together and meet her new baby boy. I only stayed one night and went back to my family. Then it was Patrick's turn to catch up with his bff, Tony. He came over and stayed the night at my mom's house and they played pool, shot darts, drank scotch - the typical guy thing.
We ended up seeing tons of family on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. C Eve we went to my sister Anna's house. My dad, both sisters, grandfather, 2 aunts and uncles were all there. It was great because we could catch up with everyone in one shot. Then we went back to my mom's for C Eve dinner. Our traditional Chinese Food and exchange of gifts with Anna and her family (and Wil - my mom's boyfriend).The kids loved being with the cousins and opening a second round of gifts!
Christmas morning was nice - although rushed. We woke up around 7 and found Santa had come. The kids were so excited, but as predicted, saw their favorite gift and wanted to stop and play. Since we were on a time crunch to get to the Bull's house by 10:30 - we had to move things along. They adapted resiliently but kept wanting to go back to their favorite toys. We were done by 9, packed up all our things and were successfully at the Bulls on time. We had brunch with the whole clan (meaning MomMom, PopPop, RyRy, Erin and her crew and us) and opened yet ANOTHER round of gifts. By 1 we were done, and took 3 hour naps! Then it was time for dinner. Another fancy dinner and dessert, fireside stories and playing with cousins...it couldn't get any better! MomMom was super stressed out for some reason - but I think other than that, everyone enjoyed themselves.
After Christmas I took advantage of the King Of Prussia Mall and the Philadelphia Premium Outlets (and my mom's wallet). It was great! I met up with an old friend from work (Heather) and my girlfriend Emily. We also met up with our friend's Dan and Anita to eat our FAVORITE pizza, Pica's. So all in all - we saw almost everyone we wanted (I still missed Michele and the Julichers), had 4 present opening sessions, and spect quality time with family. Too bad I barely saw Patrick though...