Happy Holidays 2011!
We spent the holidays in Raleigh for the most part last year. We gathered at my sister's house so all the boys could open their presents together and it was quite the gathering! I had never seen so many presents in my life under one tree! We had a great time and certainly are very thankful for all of our gifts - material and not! Marc's daughter and niece were in town for two weeks over the holidays and while I think most of the time they were bored to death (even with a toddler), we made some amazing memories and they got a good rest from their real lives (college life for Shaine and job search after college for Lourdi!)
This was the tree at the cabin where we spent New Year's this year - so beautiful!
I'm pretty much the luckiest step-mom in the world! And, when I grow up, I want to have the body and guts to dress like my step-daughter, pretty please.
I love this girl! Not sure what I would've done without her over these holidays - she came up to Asheville with me for New Years and we had a BLAST!
We had so much fun showing Raleigh off to Shaine and Lourdi - of course after living in New York and Boston they were laughing that we call it a "city" but they were surprised to see all the tall buildings anyway, lol.
Marc and Lourdi - lookin' like twins!
So hard to keep this little guy still!! This was the best one of the two of us and I still love the lil look on his face.
Madre and Padre.
YES, it was the absolute best one of all of us together, the others you could see even less of Z's face in!
Mom and dad got a canvas of their view from the mountain, so they can always see it now, even when they aren't there!
I hope Zaiya learns to play the piano and loves it... and does a better job of practicing than his mommy did! He absolutely loves pianos and begs to play them whenever he sees one. He is very focused and gentle while playing and I just love the look on his face when he gets excited about being able to play music! Also, I love that my brother was there to help him get it set up, John is so great w/the kids!
Lourdi definitely bonded w/my parents on this trip. My mom made her an official stocking that has been passed down for generations in our family. Now, we all have matching stockings hanging for the Holidays!
I did it again, folks. I actually wrote all that and never published it. It is now July. I have lost 40 pounds since this was written. I am going to write a post about that with before/after pics b/c I'm so amazingly proud of myself! Lots of things contributed to the transformation and not all of them are fun, but back to the 2011 Holidayz - It was fabulous! I am lucky to have such a wonderfully diverse family. I love them all to the moon and back!
