holiday continued...

I apologize...my post was around 3am so I left out a lot of the details and like to have things well documented. The fun details about our break...

Despite the sadness and heavy heart around the Holidays and thinking of our Gracie girl too, we had some fun memories to take with us as always

-watching elle and harry open their gifts (harry in particular LOVED his truck from Aunt Mary and elle's most favorite gift was her sleeping bag from Aunt Debbie)
-watching the cousins "play" - elle is so proud to be the oldest Close cousin and harry and elle adore their big cousin aydan who is just getting cuter by the day (and more athletic)
-hanging with our friends Mel and Nick whom have been sharing the Christmas eve tradition with us and the close's for over 10 years
-making Christmas cookies with aunt chrissy, aydan and harry - she is my mother when it comes to baking...you would be so proud, mom
-wine & beer drinking with the siblings once the kiddos were asleep...we debated, laughed and covered just about every topic (most of which I cannot mention on this blog!)
-cousin pic on Santa's lap...though the line was long and miserable, we captured that moment of the kiddos together
-having a visit with aunt diann and uncle randy at the close's while they were briefly in MI...wonderful to see my family
-Christmas eve service is always beautiful but it's tough...that is where I think of my family, and all of the people hurting out there in particular the victims of sandy hook, ct this year...it sure hit home and my heart aches for those children and all impacted
-Christmas morning - drinking coffee, eating monkey break, giving and getting gifts
-watching my sister put on such a nice dinner for my mom's side of the family - it was so nice to see everyone and wish  i saw them more often. great to see my grandfather healthy and happy (he turns 80 this year!!!)
-NYE with our friends kelly and jason - had a great (early) dinner night out at a fabulous restaurant...great to get out after a long break with good people

Of course there are people I wish I caught up with (on the phone and in person) who I miss so much...but know you all were in my heart and I cherish your friendships no matter where you are.

ONE more week until the big day - Elle's birthday! A lot of planning is undergoing...should be a special weekend with our family and friends!

All my love,
Melissa