Well, the last of the Christmas celebrations is done as of today.  Today I had my side of the family over.  It was lots of fun, all the nieces and nephews were able to come and we had a great time talking and visiting.  With all the lovely new seating in the living room (remember I got new couches this summer?) and dining room, we still spent most of the day standing around in the kitchen--that just seems like the place to congregate.  Jim and Rhonda were telling hilarious tales about their honeymoon; my brother is one of those people who can make almost anything sound incredibly funny, so we spent a lot of time laughing.  It's so good to see him be so happy.

Our trip to Florida was so much fun.  We left the evening of the 14th, and the 15th and 16th it snowed up here in Ohio.  The kids were sad that we missed it, but Jon and I weren't sad at all.  We had temperatures in the 70's every day we were there except for one day that was in the 50's.  That was the day we went to Epcot and MGM.  We were all walking around very comfortable in long sleeves and long pants (no coat) and laughing at the people who had on parkas, mittens, and fur lined boots and were still complaining about the cold.  Epcot was lots of fun--it's the one park the kids hadn't been to yet.  We also went to Universal's theme park, Islands of Adventures, which has several really good roller coasters, and a Spiderman 3D ride that's one of the best I've ever been on.  Sea World was very enjoyable, too.  

As a huge part of our Christmas gift, Claudia (Jon's sister) took us to Cirque du Soliel.  The show was absolutely incredible, all of us loved it!  Jon wasn't real enthused about seeing it, but he was impressed by how good it was.  The tickets are expensive, but the show is worth it.

Katie woke me up several mornings to let me know that 'the Puerto Ricans are coming!'.  I felt like I was having a bad American Revolution dream, and waiting for her to let me know if it was 'one if by land and two if by sea.'  But really, she was just excited that Cuco's family was stopping by for a visit.  His family was up from Miami and Puerto Rico, and we spent some time with them, including a Saturday afternoon BBQ that was very nice.  Puerto Ricans are like spanish speaking Italians--loud, lots of hand gestures, and lots of kissing on the cheeks.  We felt right at home with them.

We had a nice Christmas Eve with my in-laws, and got to meet my nephew Michael's girlfriend.  She seems nice, just very quiet.

Christmas morning, after the gifts were opened, I realized Jon had gotten two ties, but no shirts.    Since Katie found my hiding place last year, I had to hide gifts in 5 or 6 spots this year, and since I did the hiding before we left on vacation, I forgot one of them!  After the kids went upstairs for a while to eat breakfast, they were surprised to hear that more gifts had magically appeared!

I hope everyone who might be reading this had a lovely holiday.