Wonderful Christmastime

Once again, the holidays are upon us.  This year was a little tough, considering my back surgery and not being able to do what I normally would have wanted to, but we still managed to make it a special time for our little munchkin!

Our family portrait for 2010... Too bad we couldn't use THIS shot for our holiday cards this year! Would have been SO nice!  Thanks, as usual to our favorite photographer Margie!

Margie & Charlie spent Christmas Eve with us at my parents party. It is always so nice sharing the holidays with friends & family you love!

Even with all the stuff they've had to deal with this year, Mom & Dad went above and beyond as always.  The house is beautifully decorated, and the food was outstanding as usual!

Mom's chemo has taken it's toll, but she looked terrific in her cute reindeer sweatshirt!

Dad was wearing the very appropriate "Bah Humbug" sweatshirt... lol...

 Santa was VERY good to a certain little girl!  He left a wonderful new bicycle at Nana & Papa's house just for her!  She sure must have been good this year!

 

So despite the fact that things were a little tight for us all, obviously Rachel did not notice a difference!  Here she is demonstrating her ability to be a game show hostess! LOL

 And the gifts just keep on coming!  She had so many neat packages to open!

 Even Penny got to open a package from Nana & Papa!!  With a little help from Daddy, of course!

You can even see the smile on her face!  Now we have to make sure she doesn't eat any of Rachel's fake food!

 Rachel loved all of her gifts, but there were some obvious favorites... Naturally, her bicycle, her dancing Frosty the Snowman, the box of food to go with the kitchen we got her, and this really cool play tent!

Since Hanukkah fell so early this year, we were actually up north to celebrate that one. We brought our own little Menorah with us on the trip, so we lit our candles by ourselves when we had to, but we also lit them with friends when we were able to!
All in all, this holiday season was full of good memories and we are so glad we were able to share them with so many people. 

Happy Holidays to all our friends and family from all of us!!

New York New York

We had an awesome day today. Woke up early, got ourselves up and moving, and headed out for a day of sightseeing!  Margie's first trip to NYC was going to be a memorable one if I had something to say about it!

Our first stop was Liberty Island, to see the lady with the lamp... She sure is a grand sight to see!  I didn't get great pics of her, but I think Margie did, so I will add one of her pics here later... we saw some beautiful sights from the park, including the historic train station and the amazing view of Manhattan!

 This is the train station where all the immigrants would head off to their respective parts of the country.  The signs are still up pointing the way to the various stations!

 Next stop, Carnegie Deli!!!  The sandwiches there are MASSIVE and we had LOTS of leftovers! Rachel loved the Matzo Ball Soup, and she also enjoyed the Corned Beef. 

 Margie may have been a bit overwhelmed by the size of her sandwich... ok, so she was more taken in by the size of TOMMY'S sandwich!!!  It was big enough to feed all of us TWICE... at least I would have thought so...

 Here is MY sandwich.  I got Corned Beef & Pastrami on Rye. 4 days worth of meat packed in there... but it was OH so yummy!!!

 We all stared in amazement at this sight.  Tommy actually FINISHED his whole sandwich!!  OMG, we couldn't believe it!  I never would have thought it possible!!!  Even the people at the next table were floored! LOL...

Macy's Window - "Yes, Virginia, there IS a Santa Claus"

 Rachel's favorite part of the day... the tree and the skating rink at Rockefeller Center!
I think next time we are here in the winter, we will have to rent her some skates and let her have at it!  She really had a blast watching, but I know she would like it SO much more to skate herself!

 The store was closing, so they weren't letting anyone else in, but Margie got the "guard" to take a picture with her in front of FAO Schwartz!  Too bad Rach was asleep in the car already! Actually, probably a GOOD thing... she would have wanted to go in the store for sure!

 Every year, whenever we come up to NY, I feel compelled to go to Central Park & visit Strawberry Fields. It's still so hard to believe it's been 30 years already.  R.I.P. John Lennon... forever in our hearts!

(You Say it's Your) Birthday

My little princess is THREE YEARS OLD TODAY!!!  Time sure is flying by!  I felt really bad because we are on the road for her birthday this year, so she's not really getting a birthday party.  But then I realized, she's actually having SEVERAL birthday celebrations! 
Today is her actual birthday, and we are at our friends Brian & Debbie's house.  Rach LOVES it here, especially because she gets to play with their dog, Roscoe! 

The fireplace added such a lovely feel to the evening.  I miss that too... we used to have a beautiful fireplace at my parents house in NJ

 And Rach was happy to be wearing her Reindeer PJ's!

 Here is the first of many of Rachel's 3rd Birthday cakes!  It was a very yummy little cake!  Especially after having yummy Lasagna for dinner!! 

 Our wonderful friends, Brian & Debbie. They never fail to open their home to us whenever we come to NJ.  They are SO sweet! 

 Popeye eating cake?  LOL... she loved it, and especially enjoyed reading her Dora book while she munched away on sweet cake!

Don't these two look like they are trying to talk their way out of trouble?  Haha.... That's her buddy Roscoe, looking all sorts of cute!  They sure got along great!
We had a fantastic (but short) visit with Brian, Debbie & Roscoe. 
It was a really nice way to spend Rachel's 3rd birthday.  That was her first 3rd birthday... on to the 2nd third birthday next!

Cold Turkey

Thanksgiving Day 2010

 What a long, fun-filled day it was!  We started bright and early in the morning, heading to Margie & Charlie's house for their annual Thanksgiving day breakfast! 

 They had a full house with all the kids & grandkids, plus assorted friends & family!

 Then it was our turn to play host to our regular crowd for our annual Thanksgiving Dinner!  I made my always-popular Pumpkin Soup & a few other side dishes on Wednesday so I could leave the kitchen free for Tommy.  He does the bird, stuffing, potatoes, mashed Rutabaga, & creamed onions!
Of course my mom also made her famous Salad! 

 Rachel kept herself occupied throughout the day... Here she is practicing spelling her name with her magnetic letters!

Next it was time for our newest tradition... Margie took some awesome family shots for us.  Look for them soon!  I will try to get them done & in the mail before the holidays are over!

 Dinner went off without a hitch!  Everyone enjoyed the meal AND the entertainment!  Rachel is ALWAYS a source of giggles for the crowds!  She is SO funny!

 We love having our friends & family with us for Thanksgiving every year.  I am so glad we started this tradition since we moved into the house 8 years ago!

 Besides celebrating Thanksgiving, Rach also got her first birthday presents a little early!  Since we will be up north for her 3rd birthday this year (which also happens to be the 2nd night of Hanukkah!), her Nana & Papa decided to give her a couple of her presents now!  She was SO happy to get her very own suitcase with Dora & Boots on it!  And she got some cool new PJ's too!

And here is the best little thing we are all so Thankful for... She is our very favorite little present!!!

Birthday Boy

Today we spent the afternoon at little Christopher's 1st birthday party!  Rach had an absolute blast, playing with the kids, swimming in the little pool, and of course, eating CAKE!

 The birthday boy!  Looking just as cute as could be!  We just LOVE those blue eyes!  He's gonna be a real wolf, right?

My little princess having fun swimming with all the boys! LOL  

She was very fixated on the opening of presents. So proud of her because she didn't try to swipe any of the gifts! LOL...

Girl, You'll Be a Woman Soon

What a special time we had!  It was Juliette's Bat Mitzvah, and it was absolutely wonderful!  Rachel & I were both SO honored to be asked to participate in the Havdalah service after the ceremony.  I held the Havdalah candle, and Rachel carried the spice box to all the guests in the first row, and then held it HIGH above her head when Cantor Ann told her to!  She did an AMAZING job!  Unfortunately, we have no pictures from the ceremony itself, but naturally we took plenty of shots during the party after! 

 Steven & Alain couldn't make it in from France, but through the miracle of modern technology, (aka SKYPE) they were able to attend via computer!

 Rachel with the Bat Mizvah girl!  My beautiful Juliette (apparently her new BFF)

 Our Happy Family shot!