Hip Hip Hooray for Christmas Vacation!

Was it great or was it GREAT?! It was pretty dang great!

Ryan was so so so so so sweet and bought me a new camera and one of those digital picture frames... I had NO idea I would even want one of those, but apparently I did because I opened it and just started CRYING I liked it so much!! Now I can see everyone I love sooooo much just scrolling at my desk all day long. YAY!!!

Christmas night we hung out at Ryan's sister's and the next night we went out with his family to Fogo de Chao. Let me just say, it really IS worth all of the raving associated!!! I went in VERY ready to just eat the heck up on the most choice meat and I DID... Proud to say I ate everyone under the table. *pleased smile, puffed out chest and belly* Pic below is of us after dinner. Some would say it's a bad pic of me, I think that's true and it's probably because I gained an IMMENSE amount of weight with just one meal and was unrecognizable even to myself for the next couple of days. BUT, it's a great pic of the fam so there it is :O)




The next day I rode with my in laws (very weird to say!) to Tyler and then began one of the very best trips of my entire life. Because I was there for 9 days I was able to spend very quality time with people I love so deeply. OH it was so good! So, that's the big picture, below are just some of the pics with 'snippets' I will say, one thing that was so sweet was getting to spend so much time with my family. Absence DID make my heart grow fonder ... and it was already pretty fond.

And on to the snippets ...

1. Time with my nephews. My love for them, what can I even say. Below you will find a VERY happy Gooby (that's me)





Swinging with sweet Noah. He wasn't feeling very well so he sat on my lap so we snuggled on the swingset :O)



Here I am practicing my mommy skills (not pregnant, just looking ahead). This little Solomon is so sweet! I don't know what it is about little legs in a diaper that are SOOOOOO cute!



2. Making my grandmother's authentic Italian Spaghetti and Meatballs. They are supposed to cook for 2 days, but we did the Cliff's Notes verion of 6 hours :O)

and... YUM!!! Chowing down on just a few of the 125 handmade meatballs.

3. Getting to see my mom really enjoy her family.

4. Watching Noah feel like a big boy in showing Gooby how he can push the wagon up the trailer. It is so wild how even now the boy in him looks proud to impress me. Beautiful.

We love each other A LOT!

5. SUCH great time with Ryan's friends and my friends and it is so fun because they are now becoming mutual friends!!! We got to have a DELISH meal at Shogun's with my best friend Stefani and a sweet friend of Ryan's (and now MINE), Christy :O)

5. Christmas Baking! Even though we missed pre-Christmas Baking we kept the tradition with Veronica at the reins! She is a BAKE-ER! My mom got her a new recipe book for Christmas so she got to choose whatever cookies she wanted to make :O)







HOWEVER, apparently Lisa and Veronica's cookies weren't artsy enough so my mom grabbed the sprinkles and 'helped' them. Look how pleased Veronica is! LOL!!! That is my mom's best friend, Ms Deborah :O) I LOVE HER!!!

My mom GLOWING with the girls she loves and a littlelittle embarrassed that she grabbed the sprinkles...

6. GREAT time with my sisters! God opened up so much time with the people I love and I am SO thankful!!!

This vacation was SOOOOOOOOO much more than I had ever hoped for! EVER! Ryan came in on Tuesday and he got to see so many people he loves as well :O) OH GOSH it was so good!

I pray your Christmas and New Year's was with people you love too :O)