Christmas Eve ...

This is the line for the food ... you don't want to be at the end or there will be slim pickings .. when we form our circle to say the prayer there is some strategic staging going on ... certain people who will remain unnamed will not move from their spot .. because as soon as we are done praying the line forms .. you get where i am going with this .. the line wraps around into the living room ..

we are getting ready to pray ..

see how big that circle is .. how lucky are we that we have this many family members !!!

and look at these family members .. oh aunt mary and uncle ross .. we do love you !!

Christmas eve was a wonderful day .. it was cut just a little short due to the blizzard that took over the state .. so it was kinda an eat and run day .. didn't get to visit with everyone like i was hoping .. katie, ryan, leif and wrenna made it from colorado and i didn't even get to hold sweet little wrenna .. all in all it was a super fantastic day though ..

After ...

After dinner on christmas eve at mom's .. the broccoli cheese casserole that uncle danny brought .. after 38 people went thru the line ..

neil's gravy ... after 38 people went thru the line .. i did not get any gravy because i was toward the end of the line .. next year ..

after playing in the snow and sledding grandpa/jeff style ..

after christmas morning presents at granny's ..

after stuffing ourselves with eggs, bacon, sausage, biscuits and fried potatoes at granny's on christmas morning ..

Santa came !!! Santa came !!

At 5:15 Am on Christmas Morning .. Jeff and I are sleeping in our warm cozy bed .. over the monitor i hear Ellie's sweet voice .. Santa came .. Santa came .. i then hear her run into Cash's room .. Cash .. Cash get up ... Santa came .. you hear Cash say .. no Ellie .. and then he realizes what she is saying and you hear him leap out of bed and hit the floor with a big ole thud .. and then the running of feet into the living room .. and then screams ...

Kit got her horse that she was wanting ..

notice that it is pitch black outside ..

look how tired she looks ..

cash got a big ole Tonka crane .. now he can scoop up all kinds of stuff ..

what do you mean i can't scoop up any barbies ..

Sledding .. Jeff and Grandpa style .. version #2

lets hook up the sled to the back of the ranger ... grandpa says .. and then i will pull you ... yea .. the kids scream .. i was inside when this discussion was going on ..

lets just say that it worked really well ..

don't bite your tongue cash ..

wow .. hold on there ..

they must have stayed outside for what seemed like another 2 hours .. they were cold and red-faced when they finally came in .. they warmed up .. their clothes dried and then they went back out again .. this went on all christmas day and saturday .. it was a great time .. considering that it wasn't going to snow .. right jeff ..

Sledding .. Jenny style ... version #1

poor cash could hardly walk in all his snow gear .. jeff must have carried him up the hill at least 100 times ..

one big push was all he needed ..

do you think he is having fun ..

probably not .. he should come in right now and warm up .. i will let you be the one to tell him that ..

"It's not going to snow" .. Jeff kept repeating these words to ellie, cash and i all week long .. bah humbug we told him .. it is sooo going to snow .. the kids and i were so confident in our weather forecasting abilities that we forced him into buying sleds on wednesday night .. thank goodness .. because unless you have been on a tropical island in the south pacific ... it snowed .. so sledding we went on christmas day .. we did 2 versions of sledding .. my way and .. jeff/grandpa's way .. so today i showed you my way .. nice safe sledding .. down a small size hill .. tomorrow .. you will see how jeff and grandpa sled .. lets just say that it involves rope and a motorized vehicle of sorts ..

Oh baby it's cold outside ...

Due to the weather and the fact that i am flat out exhausted and still full of turkey and uncle dan's broccoli and cheese casserole i have not posted one thing in the last 2 days .. the snow was done a whopper on our internet connection .. so i will be back up soon .. i promise .. got to go and pack for our ski trip with uncle greg and hunter ... we hope that everyone had a great christmas and that you have stayed warm and cozy !!

Oh .. Aunt Kimmy .. .!!!

I arrived home from my pedicure on wednesday night to find the christmas presents from aunt kimmy had arrived .. not only had they arrived but they had been torn into with a fury that only a 7 and 3 year old can unleash on things that are wrapped in pretty paper and have come all the way from New York .. this is what we found ..

ellie got 2 new pair of jeans .. another pair of rock star jeans .. her most favorite and a pair of true religion jeans .. i tell you what .. i don't even own a pair of true religion jeans ..

and the hair accessories .. oh my .. !! i have never seen such pretty and fun hair accessories .. ellie had these in her hair when i arrived home .. they are beautiful !!

look at all the fun fun hair accessories .. cash was eyeing a few of them as well .. and a fun bag to put them all in ..

not to worry .. cash was not disappointed by any means .. he got himself a real boat .. he plays "boat" all the time .. now he has his own .. and it came with 3 little cars .. the ramps go up and down so he can drive his cars on and off .. he had it all loaded down with some trucks and was ferrying across the living room when i walked in ...

and last but not least .. me .. look at this fun fun fun little purse .. just the right size for a few credit cards .. my phone .. and some lip gloss .. and it is green .. not only green in color but green for the environment as well .. it is made by a company called engage green .. check out their website .. www.engagegreen.com .. they have some neat looking things ..

so we had christmas a little early .. usually i make the kids wait until christmas day to open all of aunt kimmy's things .. but as jeff said when i walked in and asked what had happened .. "i was in charge" he said .. so they raided the box and opened the loot .. ellie is sleeping in 5 of her new barrettes and the statton island ferry is tucked under cash's covers ..i would say that .. aunt kimmy .. you were a hit .. thank you and we love you !! Merry Christmas to you and Patrick both !!

Our visitor in the barn ..

so the kids and granny and i went riding last night .. when we walked into the barn this little guy was flying all around .. i got very excited thinking that our little owls had hatched some off spring .. it was hard to tell if he was an owl or a baby chicken hawk .. i have it on pretty good authority though that he is a chicken hawk .. either way i think that he is pretty .. not the smartest though because he can't figure out how to get out of the barn .. typical male .. he won't ask for directions ..

cash got a little seat time in .. thanks to granny .. he kept hollering that he wanted to go faster ranny ... faster ..

and there is little annie oakley herself .. sweetie was not so much into the whole "let's ride tonite" .. in case you are saying to yourself .. has jenny lost it .. it is dark at night .. what is doing taking her kids out at night to ride horses .. remember .. we have a nice barn that has an arena with lights .. jeff thought that it was for racing all those ttr's .. remember the fleet .. but it is not .. it is for riding horses at night ..

after you ride .. you scoop poop .. or dirt .. or you just make huge piles of dirt and a big ole mess .. is totally depends on who has the shovel and rake ...

ellie is going to help him out a little bit ..

you have to love christmas break .. no bed times .. no having to rush home after dinner at granny's to finish homework .. lay out the next days clothes .. no lunches to assemble .. no snacks to make .. no back packs to get ready .. no having to rush into the shower to wash hair .. no hair to dry .. just time .. time to go to the barn and ride horses and scoop poop and wonder if that is a baby owl or a baby chicken hawk .. then of course we have to rush home to shower and clean up because ellie is about to run into the barn door because her eyes are swollen shut because she is so allergic to the whole barn .. just don't touch your face i keep telling her .. don't pet the horses .. don't breathe in the dirt .. right .. because barns are sooo clean ..

Christmases of the past ..

On Christmas morning i make everyone sit on the fireplace at moms and i get out the tripod and take a group pic .. these are so much fun to go back and look at .. we started in 2000 .. here are just a few ..

this is 2005 .. that was the year that ellie covered her face in every picture that i took ..

2006 .. look at little cash man in his christmas pj's ... ellie is wearing her new ballet outfit that aunt kimmy sent her .. check out uncle matt's super fancy tuxedo shirt ..

2007 ... the year that cash cried everytime he got his picture taken ... i am wearing the same pj's as last year .. i am going to have to work on that ..

2008 .. can you tell that Jenny got a nicer camera .. man i can .. and look we have grown .. our new additions are .. at the time the picture was taken .. Matt's finance Samantha (remember they got married in October of this year) and her two super neat kids Luke and Kali .. and look cash is not crying !

this is 2008 as well .. we were lucky enough to have Hank and Denise with us for Christmas morning that year .. look how pretty Denise looks .. and Hank is so handsome .. and the rest of us are in our pj's .. Hank and Denise were going onto Grammy and Pop's in Ramona .. you will also notice Kit and Ruthie are in the picture as well ..

Christmas Morning goes a little like this at our house .. the kids wake up screaming that Santa has come .. Santa has come .. we get up ... look at all the fun stuff that Santa brought .. then we open a few more little presents .. make coffee .. then we lug the rest of the presents up to mom and dad's to open .. open more presents .. take group pic .. then we eat ... mom makes a HUGE breakfast .. bacon .. eggs .. hash browns .. fried potatoes .. biscuits .. the works .. then we go home and are totally lazy the rest of the day .. most years we don't even get out of our pj's or take a shower .. it is a great day !!!

Oh the places we have been ...

before we had ellie and cash we were lucky enough to get to go to some amazing places ...

the leaning tower of pisa .. in italy ... it is not as big as you think it would be .. you can so tell that we our tourists becasue we are wearing tennis shoes

that is monte carlo in the background .. we went to the casino and played a little roulette .. jeff had to buy a tie from the ships clothing store to be allowed in .. ties and jackets are required for men .. dresses for ladies .. they hold your passport when you go in and give it back to you when you leave .. the casino was beautiful .. the whole city of monte carlo is beautiful .. we saw were princess grace was buried .. lots of hills ..

got to love those fire drills on the boat .. we were on a cruise that left from barcelona, spain and was headed to rome, italy .. before we left the dock we had to practice these drills .. we look confused don't we .. like maybe we missed the part of the directions that went over what life boat we were supposed to ..

i love this pic of us .. we were going to a disco party here at the lake .. i put this pic in ellie's baby book .. she is going to think that we were crazy .. jeff still has this leisure suit .. !!

that is the golden gate bridge behind us .. jeff surprised me and took me to san francisco for our 13th anniversary .. we rented a tandem bike and rode across the bridge .. it was quite the adventure .. lets just say that we had a hard time pedaling together .. we did make it all the way across the bridge and back .. jeff did most of the pedaling though ..

if there is one thing that jeff loves to do .. it is go places .. all different kinds of places .. we have started a list of all the places that we have taken the kids .. cash has just a few places on his list .. ellie has been to some really fun places .. considering that she is only 7 .. i want to take her to paris in the worse way .. my friend kim goes in the fall for work .. i want to tag along with her one year with ellie .. ellie would love paris .. i just know it !!

Meet the Fleet ..

most people have a pack of dogs .. or a herd of horses or cattle or even a gaggle of geese or a coop full of chickens .. not us .. we have a fleet of motorcycles .. ttr's to be exact .. these are not really for adults .. they are meant for kids .. but have rules or guidelines ever stopped jeff .. no .. so we have a fleet .. you just can't have one .. because then no one else can ride with you .. 2 is fun but 5 is lots more fun .. so now you can race each other .. they are all the same .. as far as the engine modification goes .. so jeffs says .. so who ever wins .. wins because they have more skill than the other riders .. unless you are jeff and ride dirty .. hey .. winning is everything .. right .. so the fleet gets a tune up every winter .. and then they get the raced all winter and spring long ..

this is the ttr fleet .. numbered 2 thru 6 .. not sure what happened to #1 .. i don't even recall a #1 ever existing ..

i know they are out of order .. you know that i had nothing to do with lining them up what so ever .. they were in the service department for their annual tune-up and once over ..

meet the soon to be newest member of the fleet .. you guessed it .. cash is getting a motorcycle for christmas .. don't tell .. he has no idea yet ..

i told jeff that cash's motorcycle can be #1 .. then at least the numbering will make more sense ..

look .. all the big kid (jeff) bikes and the little kid bike (cash) .. all lined up .. just waiting for someone to jump on them and ride thru the mud across the street .. any takers .. ??

I love these cups and plates ..

Remember the fun and pretty plates that Emily got .. the 12 days of Christmas series from Rosanna .. well i couldn't stand it any longer .. i had to order the chocolate series of cups and plates .. i love the shape of the plates ..

just look how pretty they are all lined up ..

they are saying .. oh jenny please steam some milk and make some hot chocolate ..

or better yet .. steam some milk and make a little espresso ..