Well another Christmas has now come and gone. This one really snuck up on me and then passed right before my eyes. Here are the highlights of the Christmas festivities...
1. Chris arrived home the Thursday before Christmas from Basic Training in Ft. Leonard Wood, MO. It has been so nice to have him home and we were all so excited to hear all of his stories and catch up with him.
2. For me, Christmas really began on Saturday the 22nd when Mom, Courtney, Courtney's friend Kasey, and I drove to Warwick, NY to visit the Aabs and Carabines for the Aabs' annual Christmas party. It was a wonderful trip, too short of course, but wonderful. The kids were such a treat to see and I was happy to see Pru and Brian, Brigid and Alex, and their close friends. I am so glad that I had some company for the drive, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to make the trip alone, and it wouldn't have felt like Christmas without a trip to New York or without seeing my NY family.
3. Jackie and Jay arrived home from San Diego on Sunday and spent their four day Christmas vacation here at my house. Again, great to have everyone home for Christmas.
4. Monday was Christmas Eve, and of course, not drama free. Shawn, my house buddy, had been fighting a cold for a few days and woke up Monday morning with no voice and a fever, so it was off to Patient First. Now, at this point, I was thinking "I am really tired of spending holidays at Patient First" after spending New Year's Day last year there with Sean's pink eye. So Mr. Grimes found out he had strep throat, ugh, and spent the rest of the day resting.
5. Of course, Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Christmas Eve dinner at Mom Mom's. It was a wonderful evening. Not surprisingly, much of the focus was on the youngest little Emery, Nicholas, and he did not disappoint! He was so enthusiastic about everything that was going on. He helped Courtney give out presents, opened his own presents and helped everyone else open theirs, and was just utterly adorable.
6. Christmas Day proved very successful and enjoyable. The Parto clan spent the day at my house. Mom cooked a great dinner of ham and all the trimmings. We had so much fun opening our gifts and spending time together. The evening ended with some games, first a nice round of Cranium Pop 5, then some friendly competition on the Wii. Dad boxing was by far one of the highlights of the day :)
Overall, Christmas was very nice. But not a day goes by that I don't miss Sean and think of him, and these last few days have made that even more true. One of the most special things for me this Christmas was giving the gift of Sean to many of my family members and friends. With my fabulous Mac and the iPhoto program, I was able to easily create photo books with collections of photos of Sean to give away as gifts. It was such a great way to have him with us at Christmas this year.
I hope that all of you were able to enjoy your family and friends over the Christmas season and are now ready to celebrate what will hopefully be a fabulous, happy, and lucky New Year. Love to all of you!
