Mixed Nuts: Christmas in Pennsylvania

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Christmas in Pennsylvania

I started my blog post with this family picture of Mat's side because it is outstanding to me how big we have grown in the last 13 years since Mat and I have gotten married. So I will introduce you to everyone: Top Row - L to R - Tom (Jess's husband), Frank (Teen's husband), Mat (belongs to me!), Jonathan, holding son Eli (Carrie's husband), and Zac (Mat's brother)

Middle Row: Jess (Mat's youngest sister), Teen (twin of Carrie, Mat's younger sister) - holding her daughter, Reese, Sally (mom), Me and Finley, Carrie (twin of Teen, Mat's younger sister) holder her youngest, Silas, and Ben (dad)

Bottom Row: Cainan, Arlington, Gabe, and Marcial (last two belong to Carrie and Jonathan)

So now you are caught up.

This past week we took off for a few days so the kids could spend Christmas with their extended family. We had a wonderful time, and the few days we were gone were not enough time to spend with everyone. But we were happy we had the chance to see everyone.

Since there are a lot of pictures, I will torture you with all of them.

I know that will make all of you extremely happy.

We drove to PA last Tuesday and drove back to Connecticut on Friday.

We spent one whole day with each side of the family - Wednesday was the day with the Pletcher's and Thursday was the day with the Kovall's.

We had a chance to meet our newest nephew, "S". He is already 5 months old! I hate that we live so far away.

And we haven't seen our nephew "E" since he was just a few weeks old, and now he is around 18 months old.

The house of Pletcher's was full of laughter, and noise, and joy as the 8 grandchildren ran around and carried on. It was the best time.

The kids has a blast, and it was so fun to kiss those sweet cheeks of all our nieces and nephews, and wrestle, and open presents, and just enjoy time together.

And when the littles were all in bed, the adults had time to spend together catching up, playing Wii, and eating. And eating and eating.

It was great to see Grandma Pletcher, who - in her 90's - is doing very, very well. She looks amazing. It was great to see her with all the little ones. As the matriarch of this great family, she takes the noise in stride.

Thursday morning was time to say goodbye to everyone, and we went to see my parents and family.

We opened presents at my parents house, and then headed to my grandmother's house for the day.

My kids love GiGi's house. So much to explore in her big house. We hardly have to bring them toys, because GiGi has so many fun trinkets to keep them busy for hours.

Aunt Renee, Uncle Phil, and cousin Alissa joined us for dinner, and it was great to see them. We haven't seen them in a long time. And we thank Aunt Renee to pull out those elementary music skills and sing to the kids while they ate their dinner. Dinner never went so smooth.

(GiGi, Great Aunt Mary and the kids)

We opened more presents, and enjoyed catching up, and before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye.

Friday morning we got up early and headed home. My parents came with us to spend the weekend, and we are keeping busy.

Christmas has come to and end. We are cleaning up and taking down the decorations. It was a wonderful week, and we are so grateful for all the fun and happiness we had. It makes us long to spend more time with family.

The telethon is coming to an end. It will continue to run at 8am and 7pm tomorrow, for the last time. I cannot wait to get the final tally of what we will be able to donate to RDH12 when all is said and done.

Another article was run about Finley. You can read about it HERE. (just click on here). Our fund is getting wonderful attention and that just makes a cure all that more possible.

(Jess and Tom)

(The siblings - Teen, Zac, Jess, Mat, Carrie)

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year. Today is Ben - my Father-in-laws - birthday. Happy Birthday Ben! We love you very much and we hope you had a great day.