Another Christmas has come and gone. This one was just a bit different for us due to the pandemic but we were lucky to still be able to see some family members and do many of our traditions.
Grandma Stanton is still very close to my mind -- I've been having a particularly hard time this holiday season but she has gotten pretty good at these ladybugs. This one just randomly showed up in Mike's car next to Cameron when we were driving around. She always seems to know when I need a few extra signs.
Gammy put together a lovely day for the Rocchi girls as we again made cookies together.
Definitely snuck a lot of bites as we baked!
We FINALLY got a real snowstorm and luckily had an old-fashioned snow day. We've been told due to the virtual learning option that snow days will be a thing of the past. We were ALL thankful when our school districts decided to give us this one.....we ALL needed it!
Rhys is NOT a fan of the snow!
Twins headed right out -- even though they were losing light fast!
We woke up to our first snow day -- Fluffy had to come inside since it was so cold and snowy!
Mike made the snowmen...I added the decorations!
10 inches total!
Back at it!
Cam said, "This was the best day ever." They got to play with neighborhood kids ALL DAY LONG.
Quick break. to get warmed up with some hot cocoa.
We think this was Panther's first experience with the snow.
This is where Simon chose to spend much of the day.
Rhys too!
Back to school on Friday -- this is Cam scaling a huge mound of snow while we waited for Miss Diane.
We finally made it to Christmas break....lots of relaxing. This is Allie snuggled up under my blanket from when I was a kid...
Loving our tree and decorations...
More snow play!
Love Susan Road
We headed over to our neighbors for some 4-wheeler fun!
We again colored pictures to send to the Alzheimer's facility at Moravian Hall Square. Here's hoping we can deliver them in person next year!
Matching PJs!
We missed the "Christmas Star" which was what people called the conjunction of Saturn and Jupiter -- sadly it was too cloudy for us to see it. Unfortunately it won't happen again for 800 years...but if you look really closely at this picture, you can see the 2 planets near each other.
Melissa and Buddy visited us to keep an eye on the twins for Santa each night.
Hello Christmas Eve! We still had snow but the temperature allowed us to head to the park!
Michael devised his elaborate Christmas Tree Ornament Scavenger hunt again this year.
Ornaments were hidden all over the house giving clues to where the next ornament was.
"Find those ornaments!! I want to know what the final surprise is!!"
We also made sure to make a fresh batch of cookies for Santa!
Michael was very creative with his hiding spots this year!
Finally, the last ornament led the twins to the front porch.....
Hmmmm....why are there 2 wrapped presents there?
Cam missed them.....
Luckily Allie saw them and called him back!
Mike got them their first pair of Nike Air Max!
Cam got MineCraft for his ornament this year....poor Allie's has still not arrived!
Quick Buffalo Plaid photoshoot!
Christmas Eve dinner. Bah-Bah unfortunately didn't come for Christmas Eve this year due to heavy rain....but no worries -- he'll show up in this post eventually!
We were so glad that our neighbor, Mary Therese, joined us for Christmas Eve. We gave her a fantastic Kansas City Chiefs zip-up that she LOVED!! Go Chiefs!
Annual under the tree pic....
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!
This year as the year of Barbie's for Allie!!!! This is Fashionista Ken!
Nerf guns galore!
Allie made Daddy this super cute coffee mug!
Our friendly elves were replaced with Sloths from Santa!
Oh, Santa!! Where are we going to fit all of this!!
Michael got me an aewsome sweatshirt from our favorite show!
A bat box for our wildlife sanctuary! I am super excited about this if you can't tell.
Love Allie's face in the background as she hefts more presents over!
Awesome picture I got printed for Michael.
YESSSS!! I will now be fully prepared for a spookier Halloween next year!
The aftermath.....
And yes....Santa got the kiddos a Nintendo Switch.
After a few hours of relaxing and playing with our new toys, we headed off to Gammy and Poppy's!
This man loves Christmas.
The sloths came along...
Not bad for using the timer on my phone!
The DiFrank's arrived!
Time for more presents!
Cam -- "Does this thing really answer questions??" Magic 8 Ball -- I used to love these things!
Everyone loved seeing the cousins playing together.
Oh, Cam....
Poppy got the Polar Express running for the children.
Aria was the conductor!
Next up -- Bah-Bah and Emma!
First up - take Emma for a walk after her long drive down to Coopersbug!
We headed over to the Secret Ponds.
Back to get warmed up....the cats did. abit better with Emma this time around.
Can you see Rhys under the deer???
Time to give Bah-Bah some presents!
My dad asked for Green Brier gloves that he used to wear when he was a logger. He told us that on the really cold days in the woods, they'd make a fire and put these gloves over the fire before putting them on their hands to work. I love hearing him tell us stories from his logging years.
We had wanted to get my dad a new table for his kitchen but couldn't find anything that would work. Mike had the idea to make him one instead -- so he made him a tiny version as a present...love my dad's reaction!
I broke out the VCR and played some family videos. Thankful that Mom captured so much footage!
That's me and Grandpa Carr as Santa holding our favorite cat ever, Garfield.
This video starts out with me and then focuses on the twins' Great-Great Grandmother Fiske.
Bah-Bah headed back home and we officially started out winter break.
Lots of visits to our Secret Ponds to play on the ice.
We headed over to the Wildland's Conservancy
Oh, these twinjas...
Did our traditional drive around and look at Christmas lights...
Cam got a bird's eye view from looking through the sunroof!
And finally -- some performances from the twinjas and myself!
What an AWESOME family and beautiful blog truly wonderful, thank you so much for sharing, wishes for a HAPPY HEALTHY NEW YEAR!
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