New Year's Eve in NJ

We weren't sure if we were going to make it to NJ for New Year's Eve, but we eventually did. Uncle Jon and Eric arranged for Daddy to hunt for 3 days starting on New Year's, so we really wanted to get there! On New Year's Eve, we drove to JFK to pick up Mommom and Poppop Ladd. They were finally home from being in CA! Once we dropped them off, we ran back to the house and picked up Daddy and our bags. We hit the road at about 7:30pm. The traffic wasn't really bad, but we didn't notice because we both slept the whole way down! We got to Aunt Georgi and Uncle Jon's at about 10:30pm. Aunt Georgi had her house all decorated and even had hats, blowers, and necklaces for all of us. At 12:00am we ran outside blowing our blowers and banging on pots and pans. We hope you all have a happy & healthy 2009!

Christmas Chaos

This year we had 13 people in our little cozy house to celebrate Christmas! Aunt Jessy, Uncle Carl, Trey(man), Aunt Georgi, Uncle Jon, Emma, and Lexi all got here on the 23rd. That night we went to Stew Leonard's to pick out a Christmas tree. They only had a few left, so we had to have them cut down an 8 ft. tree to 4.5 ft. We brought it home and put on "White Christmas". Mommy and Aunt Jessy strung the lights on the tree while Daddy taught everyone how to string popcorn to decorate the tree. The next day Daddy had to work until 12, so Mommy and Aunt Georgi started the cooking for Kucios early. We had a beautiful Kucious dinner on our porch and then got ready for church. We were even early getting out the door for the Christmas Eve Service at our church! Once church was finished, we came home and the adults let the kids open 1 present. We all got matching Christmas jammies! We got all dressed in our jammies, called Norad to see where Santa was, and then we were sent to bed. It took us quite a while to fall asleep because we were so excited for Santa to come that night! The next morning, Aunt Jessy was the first one awake. I don't think she slept one wink (Mommy says she's always been like this!) because she was so excited! We woke up at 6am and couldn't believe our eyes!! Santa left us SO many presents!! After we opened all of the presents, we got to open our stockings. We spent Christmas day in our jammies playing with our toys. That night, after we went to bed, Uncle Drew & Aunt Maria showed up. They brought even more presents with them! Uncle Drew & Aunt Maria gave me and Trey BB guns, Emerson a nerf gun, and Emma makeup. We spent the afternoon having target practice in the back yard with our BB guns. They are so awesome! It turns out that Aunt Maria is the best shot out of all of us! The next day, Uncle Jon & Aunt Georgi, Lexi and Emma left to go home. We took everyone else in to NYC to see the Christmas tree in Rockafellar Center and Time Square. Then we went to eat dinner in Little Italy. Everyone finally went home the next day. There was a lot of love in our house this Christmas and we can't help but feel extrememly blessed!

Florida Vacation

This week we went on vacation to see Mommom Nijole and Rawy in Englewood, Florida. They have such a beautiful house right on the beach! It's just what we needed before everyone arrives at our house in CT for Christmas! We spent the week relaxing mostly. We fished, swam, and even collected sea shells and sharks' teeth. Mommom had a "Surprise of the Day" for us every day too! She even had a Christmas seashell ornament craft for us to do. One day one of their neighbors took us out on their boat. Emerson slept (like he usually does on a boat!) almost the whole time! We saw dolphins and a manatee while we were on the boat. It was so awesome! The day we were leaving, we stopped at the mall to see Santa. We told him that we have been very good this year and we'd really like a Wii for Christmas. I guess we'll see soon if we were good enough for one! Thanks Mommom and Rawy for an awesome week! We love you!

NY Train Show

Mommy and Daddy took us back to the NY Botanical Gardens this year for the Train Show. They were really surprised that we remembered so much of it from the year before! We really liked the butterfly train. After we walked through the exhibit, Mommy and Daddy took us to the snack bar where they got us cookies and hot chocolate (They had a glass of wine!). It is a really cool show and anyone who hasn't been before should really go! Thanks Mommom and Poppop Ladd for the tickets!

Advent Family Fun Night

Tonight was Advent Family Fun Night at our church, UMC of Westport-Weston. We did so many fun things! First we ate dinner together. We sat at the same table as our friends Sophia and Talia. Then after dinner we put on our coats and went outside to sing Christmas carols and light the outside Christmas tree. After we lit that tree, we came back inside and sang some more Christmas carols and lit the other tree in the Narthex. Then it was time for crafts. We made ornaments, an orange with cloves, and even a nativity scene with stickers. It was certainly a packed night!