Friday, December 26, 2014

CHRISTMAS 2014....BLESSED INDEED!

Well I am sitting here this afternoon with a little time on my hands (hubby just ran up to the grocery store) so I decided to see if I couldn't quickly re-cap our Christmas.  I really hope all of yours went as smoothly and nicely as ours did.  I have to start by saying that as we approached it I kind of had mixed feelings as we were not going to be hosting Christmas dinner at our house as usual.  In the last 25 years or so that has only happened one other time and that's because everyone was sick.  At first I was excited at the prospect of not having all the extra work on the day, but then as it got closer it was making me feel like maybe I'd stepped into another season of my life BEFORE I should be, (I am afterall, only 60 years old! lol) because suddenly I saw ourselves as the OLD grandma and grandpa who just comes to gatherings and leaves early because they've had enough of everything.  Well, let me just say officially it was just wonderful in every way, lol.  We did sit in A LOT of traffic on the way down to San Diego Christmas Eve, but that was really the only flaw on the day.  We walked into a WONDERFUL Italian dinner of sausages and green peppers, meatballs, pasta, bread, salad (my contribution) and the best home made cannoli's around! My oldest son Joe and his family joined us as well, and the cousins all played together and enjoyed each other while the adults did the same.  Then we ate dinner and got ourselves together and went to Christmas Eve service at church.  It started with the kids singing for all of us which was just adorable.  But what really added to my joy was Cody (Joe's youngest son who is slightly on the autistic spectrum) joined them on stage (even though he of course does not go to the church ordinarily) and held a book with the words to the songs in it and opened it wide and moved his little lips and pretended to be singing right along with them.  Which trust me in his heart he was doing!  Then my son gave a brief Christmas message and we ended the service with a candles held to represent Jesus being the light of the world while we sang Joy to World.  It was all really good.  We fellowshipped for a little while after service with everyone and then went back to their house for presents.  The kids were all soo fun on it.  We sang for a while as Vinny danced (such a cutie) and then the girls put on a little show for us.  All in all it was just a perfect day.  We left shortly after that and drove home.  And then...Christmas morning hubby and I whipped up a big breakfast and sat down in front of our tree with our coffee and tea and exchanged our gifts to each other.  A very special and nice time.  Then we curled up on the couch and watched a couple of Christmas movies.  A first for me to do on Christmas Day and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. lol.  Then we got dressed and drove over to my oldest son's house for Christmas dinner. As we pulled into the driveway I could smell the delicious prime rib roasting, and between that and creamy mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, rolls, and another one of my salads it truly was a feast. We snacked on stuffed mushrooms (sooo good!) and dipped veggies in dips, and even shared a tamale or two her mother had made as well (oh my goodness....soo good!) before we even had dinner.  My middle son and his girl friend joined us here as well.  We visited and enjoyed each thoroughly and we finally headed home around 9:30 last night.  As hubby and I were discussing on the way home, it WAS a big change for us, and I might still prefer that ALL of us got together at the same time, but it will still go down in the books as one of the best Christmas's ever.  I have decided that while I might not be "that old" lol, it was really nice to pass the baton (so to speak) to my children and let them begin the years of hosting the holiday's at their houses.  I didn't do a single dish, or bake a single pie or cookie, or cook a thing at all, and honestly it really wasn't missed, lol.  I spent my time visiting and loving on my grandkids and that suited this grandma just fine.  Today hubby was still off and so we lounged around this morning and then went to lunch and then to the movie Unbroken.  It was REALLY REALLY good, but very hard to watch in places.  I love that it is a true story and that he turned to God later in his life and served Him till the day he died.  Soo inspiring.  I want to read the book now.  I did want to ask you all for prayer as well as little Vinny came down with croup last night (it's going around right now along with a million other viruses it seems) and he was hospitalized this morning. They think one night and he should go home in the morning, but poor little Vinny.  He was wheezing pretty bad I guess.  He did seem fine on Christmas Eve, but you know how fast a little one can get sick but thankfully they seem to get better just as quickly.  I really hope you all had a WONDERFUL Christmas and are enjoying a nice long week-end as well.  I'll show you some pictures now.  I tried REALLY hard to just chose a few, lol. but there are just soo many of us.  Blessings to you all!  Debbie

SOME OF THE KIDS...CODY IS ON THIRD ONE FROM THE LEFT

AFTER SERVICE WITH OUR CANDLES
WAITING PATIENTLY FOR PRESENTS!



JEFFIE

CODY

CHRISTMAS MORNING WITH HIS NEW BIKE!

CAPRI

TELLA

JD

VINNY POINTING TO THE CAR WE GOT...STILL IN THE BOX, LOL

CHRISTMAS MORNING IT WAS ALL PUT TOGETHER FOR HIM!

STARTING HIS CLASS FAMILY TRADITION OF A CINNAMON ROLL WITH BREAKFAST
MELODY AND HER LITTLE FAMILY ON CHRISTMAS MORNING...GOT LOTS OF PICS OF THEM OPENING THEIR PRESENTS THANK GOODNESS

SAM GOT A DOCTORS KIT AND WAS BUSY WITH HIS DUTIES, LOL



LITTLE VINNY IN HIS HOSPITAL BED, SNACKING ON A SNACK AND WATCHING THE IPAD  LOOKS PRETTY GOOD I AM GLAD TO SEE!

WISHING A HAPPY 14TH BIRTHDAY TO THIS SWEET GIRL TODAY!  SHE REALLY IS AN EXCEPTIONAL GIRL IN EVERY WAY (IN THIS HUMBLE GRANDMA'S OPINION) AND I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING JUST WHAT THE LORD HAS IN MIND FOR HER!  MAY HE CONTINUE TO BLESS HER GREATLY!




10 comments:

  1. What a lovely Christmas and I will pray that Vinnie gets better and gets to go home. I think it sounds perfect to pass the baton, I would have liked to have done that.
    Your day just sounds amazing. I love seeing all of your family and getting to see them opening presents is wonderful.
    I am so glad you shared. I hope you have a very nice weekend.

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  2. What a wonderful Christmas. I always enjoy seeing your adorable grands.

    I'm definitely praying that Vinnie is better and will be home in a few hours.

    Our Christmas with DD and her family is always a hybrid affair ... we have it at her house, but DD and I both work together on preparing our food.

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  3. Love the pictures and so glad you had a great Christmas. I want to read the book, Unbroken, also--daughter got me a kindle for Christmas so it is time for me to learn to down load books, right?
    Wishing you a very Happy New Year!!

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  4. What a sweet Christmas your wonderful family enjoyed. All God's best to you and yours in 2015.

    Hugs and Happy New Year,
    Kelley~

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  5. Loved the photos Debbie, glad to hear Vinny is doing better. I kind of felt the same way this year...actually in general....kind of "old" Like our season is beginning to change and we are handing off the baton. I am not so sure about how I feel about it all, so many changes for us in such a short amount of time. This will be a milestone year for me as well so I think that probably has something to do with it (I will be turning 60 this year, there I said it...lol) I've been looking forward to Unbroken coming out but I am concerned that it might be difficult to watch. Glad you had a nice Christmas, many blessings for the new year

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  6. I, too, love your photos! It is a joy to see such sweet and happy faces! I pray that Vinny is feeling much better by now.

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  7. Hi Debby, Love seeing your family-all your grands are so precious! Sounds like you had a full and rich Christmas. Praying the Lord ricly blesses you in 2015.
    Sending you love and hugs.
    Noreen

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  8. I really love this post. It is so fun to hear about your family and your Christmas traditions.

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  9. Really enjoyed all the photos... I can't believe how talented you are, those little outfits are so darn cute, the cherry one is my favorite. Hoping Vinny is healing well, sorry I've been away and didn't know he was ill. Wishing you God's best in 2015!

    Hugs!

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!