Christmas 2010

It has been a wonderful Christmas break for our family.  The kids have enjoyed their days off from school hanging out inside, catching up on sleep, playing with friends, hiking in the woods near our house with friends, going to movies, helping me bake and clean up around the house, and spending time together as a family.

We decided not to travel for the holidays this year, since we had travelled to the northeast both last Christmas and last summer. We know we have lots of upcoming travel for Lilly's surgeries. Still, any time we are not with our families for Christmas, I feel a sense of emptiness inside. I was thankful, however, for skype, which allowed us to see my family all gathered at my parents' house in Pennsylvania, and open presents "together."


We had good friends over for Christmas dinner--the Greenbaums--who have a 5-year old girl also adopted from China. Libby and Lilly are becoming great friends (and Heather and I are as well!).  They also have a fun little cutie pie 2-year-old boy who keeps Jared in line while they are here!

The weather has been great for getting outside as a family, hiking, walking the dog, and jogging. We hope to get in some ice skating at some point soon, too.

So enough words.  Here are some shots to give you a glimpse of the Cantilina Christmas, 2010.

Lilly's preschool had a fun celebration with a special visitor.  We don't talk much about Santa at our house, but she knew he would be coming to Happyland Preschool this year (she remembered him from last year!). 

Here is Lilly with her good friend, Libby.

We went to see "Tangled" together at the theater.  It was a bit too intense for Lilly and we had to leave about 2/3 of the way through. 

Lilly helped me a lot with all the baking and chocolate kahlua cake preparation to give as gifts to friends, neighbors, and colleagues.  Mostly, however, she enjoyed the chance to eat chocolate chops and lick batter bowls when I was through...

Jared and Anna have spent quite a bit of time like this--in front of the TV watching "mythbusters."

Jared and his friends went to see Narnia together (and Anna and I got to tag along).

LIlly helped Daddy and me to make the traditional Cantilina Christmas breakfast--"canes"--a Dutch pastry, some filled with almond paste, some with an apple nut mixture.  This is Tom's favorite. The kids opted for chocolate crescent rolls for Christmas breakfast.

Christmas Eve service--Lilly and Libby.

Lilly and her sweet friend Nicole.

After a stop at the Washburns for a Christmas Eve gathering, we headed home for our own tradition of Christmas Eve fondue--meats cooked in oil and chocolate fondue for dessert with fruit.  Mmmmmm....

They clean up pretty well...

After opening two presents on Christmas Eve from Nana--the Christmas jammies and a tree ornament for each of them.  Ready for bed!

This is how it looked, ready for Christmas morning.

They were under strict orders not to come into the living room until we said it was ok.  They are awaiting the word.

Jared apparently laid in bed for quite awhile waiting for his sisters to finally wake up.

ON the couch, ready to start!

Lilly was so grateful for each gift!  Here she is hugging Anna after opening up some colored pencils, scissors, and a little notebook from Anna.

Christmas dinner with the Greenbaums.  Good food and good company!

Fun with friends during Christmas break.

Cantilina Christmas Letter 2010

A few more tidbits from our daily lives...

How could I have neglected to mention a few milestones in our family?  Lilly, approaching her 5th birthday in March, has graduated into a "big girl bed." The week before last, she began climbing out of her crib, pretty adeptly. She slept in a crib much longer than Jared or Anna ever did, but she is also much tinier than they were at her age, and having a crib was just so very convenient for us! But is was most definitely time. She is loving her little toddler bed, that Tom built when Jared graduated from the crib. Take a look~

Another piece of exciting news for our family is that 3 of us are playing our brass instruments in the all-church orchestra for Christmas!  I am getting my lips back in shape on my baritone, Jared is playing his trombone, and Tom is on his trumpet!  How fun.  Lilly wants to get in on the action...

And, finally, here are some shots from Jared's 8th grade "Sparkle Dance," held at a ballroom in a local resort hotel.  He looked SO handsome. I cannot believe he is old enough to be going to a dance like this, all dressed up.  He even WANTED to get dressed up, and he tied his tie himself (I showed him once.  "I'm good at knots" was his response when I expressed my amazement that he got it so fast). 

Here he is with the lovely Jordan Pearson; they have been good friends since 5th grade.

Cantilina Thanksgiving 2010: The Florida Edition

So, after our road trip to the northeast this summer, I sent an e-mail to all of Tom's family proposing something a little radical for this Thanksgiving:  having everyone come from New Jersey down to Florida for Thanksgiving at the beach.  I was beyond thrilled when I got the reply back from Tom's mom:  "they've all agreed.  We're coming!" 

We quickly  reserved two houses in Crystal Beach with enough bedrooms to sleep 25 of us, and went on with life for the next few months.  As the time drew closer, however, I had much to do to prepare and kicked it into high gear because--never getting to be the hosts when we exchange Christmas gifts--I wanted to also celebrate an early Christmas while Tom's family was here.  Tom dubbed me "Julie" the Cruise Director ("Love Boat") as I attempted to set up some semblance of a plan and created a chart showing who was coming in and at what time, what our options were for daily activities, what possible meal ideas could be, etc.  I was having a blast getting ready and was almost giddy with anticipation (with a touch of anxiety over the weightiness of the responsibility of having initiated this crazy idea).

So, pantries were stocked, tables and chairs acquired, extra car seats lined up, enough dishes purchased, centerpieces created, and half of my house (key kitchen items, toys, beach toys, pool toys, extra blankets, clothing for my family to wearh, etc) was packed up and moved over the Mid-Bay Bridge.  Finally, the big day arrived, and the family began to trickle in beginning on Wednesday...

Brittany and Tanya were the first to arrive.  Jared, Anna, and Lilly were giddy with excitement as we waited for their flight to land.

By Thursday morning, everyone had made it in.  We had beautiful pool and beach weather for a few days.  We had an amazing Thanksgiving feast and it was just awesome to be together in a vacation home for this holiday. 

On Friday, a few of us went on a dolphin cruise with the Southern Star.  As we waited for the cruise to begin, we could see a cold front making its way into the area, just in time for family beach photos.

Saturday was mostly spent relaxing and/or shopping, and then Sunday (I was so proud of us!) we all made it to church--ON TIME!  Two pews of Cantilinas:

 And Ciao bella's for lunch afterwards...Mmmmmm...

The dolphin cruisers...

And here are a few of our family beach shots:

It was hard to say goodbye to everyone as they slowly trickled back home.  What fun to share lovely Florida with our family! 

We were so grateful they all came~while also sad that our nephew Ryan wasn't with us.