Grandma Hernden

On December 23rd, Michael's grandma, Grandma Hernden, decided to go home to celebrate the holidays with her Heavenly Father. This was a bitter sweet moment as it was sad to see her go but a relief to know she is in a much better place. I really really enjoyed listening to the many memories of her life from many family members, as I did not get to know her when she was well. She loved visits from the girls as they sang and danced for her. She would tap her feet and sway to the songs and were very proud to show off the girls to everyone else. She looked so beautiful today.. most likely how she looked years ago and am so happy for such a wonderful service. Afterwards, the family gathered at Great Grandma Coy's where we enjoyed pizza and time with Anya and Morgan who just arrived in Pa yesterday.

Christmas with the Meraklis'

Despite the rain both on the way and home from Maryland, we had a most enjoyable evening as usual. Aunt Linda and Uncle James cooked an amazing Christmas dinner. And the Greek appetizers were a real treat! Our kids played with cousins and had a fabulous time. They are all either in ballet or gymnastics so they had a great time showing off their moves to one another and danced the evening away. We shared pictures and stories of the many trips we all took that year and also watched a movie made up of pictures of my Papoo and all of our family.

Part II.. Christmas Eve and Morning with the Coys

Keith, Cindy, Lindsey and Kyle all decided to spend the night with the girls on Christmas Eve! We had a fun filled evening full of some dancing, singing, stories, food, and gifts. The girls slept in until 8 and went crazy from there! Paper, toys and bows were everywhere! This was the first year that both girls really could open gifts by themselves and boy did they go at it! Some of the highlights were the scooter and roller skates that they got from Grandma and Pappy, the piggy banks they painted themselves w/ Aunt Lindsey and Kyle, and Alexandra got her own little guitar like Mommy!

Michael really went above and beyond on both my expectations and spending limits we set. He is sending me to California for a week w/out kids to visit my good friend Jolene.. woohoo here I come! He also is hooking me up w/ guitar lessons which i've wanted for a long time and to top it all off we are also spending a weekend in New York to see The Lion King for our 6 year anniversary in 2wks! Michael, well he wasn't so lucky.. he got a pair of gloves,clothes, soccer ball and planner. After all of the gifts were opened, Aunt Brenda, Emile, and Brie all joined us for breakfast and a game of Disney UNO! We had a great morning and were looking forward to the next party in MD.

Twas the Night Before Christmas..

Twas the night before Christmas when all through the house, not a creature was stirring not even a mouse..

Uh, wrong house! Extended family's cars lined a full street and totalled about 50 people. We were so blessed to have them all visit US here in PA. The kids had a wonderful time opening and playing with new gifts along with giving Aunt Jen a fabulous makeover. The adults enjoyed eating, socializing, and watching the Ravens (most from MD). And congrats to Aunt Lisa and Mr. Roderick for their newly announced engagement! As we drove home from The Meraklis home to our home where another festivity begins, Alexandra once again asked me why we give gifts to each other. It is unbelievable how these sweet spirits remind us constantly of the true meaning of Christmas in and amongst the busy rush! I reminded her that the 3 Wisemen took gifts to our Savior, Jesus Christ when he was born and that above of all, Jesus gave us all a very very special

gift.. He died for each and every one of us! Hope you all have a Very Merry Christmas and are able to take time to remember the true reasons for Christmas!

(My masterpiece)

Christmas Cookies..

Aunt Lisa invited all the ladies and Addison over to bake Christmas cookies so that the kiddos will have a treat to leave out for Santa. Aunt Lisa oversaw the kids as they worked on their beloved sugar cookies.We, on the other hand, were stuck doing the hard tedious ones. I had choco kisses which I admit were worth the work but took forever to assemble! Aunt Lisa even bought all of us cousins special Christmas shirts.. which we sure looked good in lol! Although we are lacking the frosted window panes, we are sure enjoying the holiday spirit!

Christmas at Hershey..

Because the kids were not satisfied w/ the lights on just our railing, Michael decided to go all out and put the icicle lights up on the house! The kids stayed outside to make sure Daddy was alright and didn't fall. Things went really smooth and we had the house decorated in a few hours. After which, we took the girls to Hershey. Although the price has drastically gone up, we all had a very enjoyable evening. The girls rode on ride after ride and really enjoyed Christmas at Hershey!

FHE

This past Monday, Aunt Lisa and Mr. Roderick came up to visit. We had a fun evening opening birthday gifts.. boy the kids really appreciate gifts they get later, watching Mr. Roderick dancing w/ the stuffed dancing turtle, and enjoyed our fancy hotdogs over a bonfire. We find any excuse to have bonfires. What a blast!