Merry Christmas to all- we had quite the 5 day whirl wind celebration this year- we were fortunate enough to spend the holiday with both our families-Christmas eve with the DiBernardo's and Christmas Night with the DiChiara's. Lets start from the beginning:
We started our trek on the 23rd, with a 5 hr drive from Boston to CT. Needless to say, we were at a snails pace. By the time we got to Nonno and Nonna's, Julian had already slept 3 hrs, so he was wide eyed and excited to see all the beautiful Christmas decor- from the numerous trees, to the christmas village, to the nativity scene, it was visual overload for the dude guy. And a verbal overload too- I think his new favorite words are Nonno and Nonna- it was like a broken record for 2 days straight.
The next morning was a team effort between my mom, dad, Julia and myself. Brace yourself for this menu: Muscles and clams in wine sauce, fried calamari, Italian rice balls, chicken cutlets, spinach and broccoli breads, sausage breads, baked mac and cheese, gabbonatta (traditional Sicilian eggplant dish), salad, baked clam casserole, asparagus, stuffed artichokes, baked stuffed chicken, clam dips, various cheeses, fresh fennel and corn bread. I mean, what a feast. And that doesn't even include the dessert. It was a 12 hour labor of love and hardly a crumb stood a chance once all 40 guests arrived.
The night was filled with catching up with cousins, 12 kids under 12 running around, drinks, the big guys sipping scotch and playing poker, and the 4 pregnant ladies talking about due dates, morning sickness and sheer excitement for the new arrivals (Christina, Gina, Jessica and myself are all due before summer).
The Preggie Crew- Look out!
The evenings festivities led to what never seems to be enough sleep, followed by a Christmas morning to remember. Joined by cousin Stella, Julian opened his presents with bright eyes and excitement. While he didn't quite get the concept of Santa, he did understand that if you rip the paper off a box, a colorful toy awaits. Stella was wild eyed with joy as she tore through her gifts, finally unveiling her coveted fischer price digital camera.
We then said our goodbyes, packed the car ( a 2 hour process for poor daddy p.s.), and made our way to Christmas part 2 with the Deech's. The 5 hr car ride was worth every second as we were welcomed with smooches and hugs from pop pop, grandma, all the Deech brothers as well as Amy. While we missed Erin this holiday, we know she was happy spending her traditions at home in Miami with her family.
Julian wasted no time making his audience laugh and smile as he marveled at the countless Christmas decorations that surrounded him. From snow globes to christmas trees, to Pop Pop's Christmas choo choo train, the world was his oyster and nothing was getting in his way- not even steps! He learned both to climb up and down them on Christmas day!
And so came the second wave of gift giving, with the majority of the presents for Julian- his favorite of all was probably the talking rocking horse from his grandparents, which he rode like a true cowboy. The celebration continued with a marvelous feast with family, including Great Grandpa and Grandma Deech, cousin Mike, Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim, and of course, uncle Rico (Richie Cardillo). Julie was missed as she celebrated the Holiday in Louisiana with her family.
And of course, in the grand old tradition of good old fashion academia, the Deech kids passed the time playing a real mind bender of a game called Tangram- in it, you replicate the image on the book with various blocks and shapes- some puzzles took over a half hour to solve- I'm proud to say i even won a round. Here is the pic to prove it!!
The festivus continued for 2 more days, with our final stop in Staten Island for a visit with Great Grandpa and Grandma Cretella, who where so happy to see the little man go nuts at their place. We had yet another amazing meal with our family, and then packed the car (again) for the long trip back to bean town. The 5 hour ride got us home late and I think all the excitement caught up with him because the little man seemed a bit run down with a post christmas cold- but it hasn't slowed him down one bit from tearing through all his Christmas gifts all day long. Daddy put together his new toy chest to spare us from the chaos of toys all over the place. Its currently playing a double role as our coffee table as well. Nice job daddy.
So that was it- as quickly as it came, the holiday went, and we have a wealth of memories and photos to show for it. We also have beautiful gifts as well- notably the amazing photo books that Joe made on his mac for mommy and our families, and Tommy D's family cookbook with all the treasured recipes of our family's favorite traditions. All in all it was an unforgettable Christmas - and we already can't wait for next year with 2 little monkeys running around to double our fun.
Happy and healthy new year to all!
