Tidings of Joy

After donning our gay apparel, braving the ungodly cold, and singing our Christmas fa la la's- we are back! And unfortunately, so are the extra pounds and the (all too familiar) double frigg'n chin. Darn you baked hams, homemade caramels, pies (in all their magical splendor), casseroles, cheese balls, cookies, rolls, nuts, soda, cakes (I'm salivating. I'm drooling for crying out loud!). To everything chocolaty, sugary and addictive: Go away and stop tempting me with your ugly, greasy, obese fingers! Oh, how I hate to love you. This relationship is unhealthy and it needs to stop now! And by "now", I mean 5 years ago.

Other than the gluttinous indulging (and lest we forget, that crazy-even-too-cold-for-Eskimo-weather), Christmas was fan-titally-astik. I mean it. Just peachy. Here are the highlights in (you guessed it) picture form.

This is just a cute little family photo. We don't have many of these, but Christmas miracles happen and POOF, we wound up with this gem.

Will was able to spend time with his adorable cousins (aren't they precious?). The planets aligned and we were able to get a picture of all of them smiling. Baby Lola isn't exactly smiling, but she's not crying either. And that, my friends, is a bona fide victory!

I'm glad we found some time in between stuffing food in our faces to take pictures.
Cute grandparents. Cute grandkids.

Will's first snow experience. We were outside for literally 30 seconds before I said to hell with it and went inside. It was just TOO cold.

We spent Christmas with these cute little elves. Elf numero uno got an iTouch from Santa. Elf numero dos got two video games short of a hundred. And the adorable Elfette got everything pink, girly, sweet, cute and fluffy. I think Santa loves them more than Will.

This just isn't right. It's just not! SO many games!! At least he's promoting peace.

This is our little Will playing with the presents on Christmas morning. Isn't he cute?

Just in case you didn't think he was cute in the first pic, here's another chance to redeem yourself.

NEVER (and I mean it!) play games with your parents! This is what my dad answered for the first question on the card. He owes me a substantial amount of money to cover my therapy fees.

We played a whole lotta Bananagrams over the break. Justin's mom came up with this little goody all on her own. I'm so proud of her.

Hanging out with the Gramps that feeds him cookies, ice cream and who knows what else. And those are just the things I've caught him feeding Will.

The Master of Mind Flex (aka Jackson). Ah, this game was a Christmas favorite for all of us.

Grandma Great is one rock'n lady!

All I got for Christmas were my two front (bottom) teeth. Literally, that's all I got... other than the spoilage from Nani, Papi, Nana and Grandpa

Love these fine looking ladies! A girl couldn't ask for better BFFs... and a better wife for Will. Yes, I'm talking about you, baby Eden!

Notice the dark hair I'm sporting these days? (Thanks, Claudia!) I think I like it. I do. The one thing I don't (and I repeat DON'T) like about it is the fact that I notice my hair loss 90% more. It's depressing and downright alarming. I have a pep talk with my brush every morning. I say, "Hairy (there's nothing wrong with naming inanimate items), please be kind and gentle to my precious few remaining hairs". But darn that Hairy! He refuses to listen to me and I find myself standing on a carpet of mane instead of the cheap linoleum that once was our bathroom floor .
Oh well, I think I'll start saving it and make a wig for Will. His birthday is coming up.


Spending some "Quality" time with the sisters-in-law. We choose to interact with each other over facebook and instant messaging. We don't believe in using our voices to communicate. We are SO 2011, but my hair (in this picture) is so 2010.

Justin and Barry built a computer. It now sits in our living room and gets plenty of love from the J-Dawg himself.

These little kiddos are my nieces and nephews. They are the funniest bunch of kids I know. And if you thought you knew crazy, you don't! Not until you spend some time with my family. It's loud, chaotic, irreverent, fun, and downright insane. I love it! I LOVE my family. I always laugh the hardest when I am around them.

Take this video for example. It was frigid cold on this day. It doesn't stop us, though.