Christmas Eve Party

One of the annual Christmas Traditions for me has always been my grandparent's Christmas Eve Party.  It has occurred long since before I was born and continues to happen even when I may not be around.  The guests vary from year to year but there's usually a core group that comes.  I still have childhood memories of Christmas Eve parties past and the anticipation of Santa Claus.  I think I would have gone nuts had I not had this distraction when I was younger.  Enjoy a few photos from the evening:

 (My sister stuffing her face)

 (Troy, Abby, and Carrie.  Hopefully I spelled Abby's name correctly...  Carrie and I once had a few too many drinks together one Christmas Eve and of course, it was my fault.)

 (Nanette giving me the evil eye)

(Cousin Deb in the foreground and Mitchy resting on the pinball machine.  Not quite sure who the other gentleman is behind Deb.) 

 (Carrie and Abby as we discussed Senior Week.  Mom and Dad are a bit nervous, to say the least.  For good reason...  I still remember when Abby was a baby and now she's off to Senior Week.)

(A group hanging out at the table)

(Cleaver - we've also had a bit too much to drink on occasion.)

(Jamie and G-Unit playing pinball)

(The fellas hanging out around the bar)

(Shirley making the face while Sue relaxes)

(Super Pop Pop hanging out upstairs)

(The gifts all wrapped and ready for Christmas)

Goodbye Seattle Hello Hershey

Made my way back East in time for the holidays.  I've always thought flying into Harrisburg there should be at least one person on the flight I know.  I guess Harrisburg's bigger than I thought as this had yet to happen.  Well, on this flight I did know someone - Monty Garrabrant - father of 2 kids I used to play hockey with and who also lives about 3 minutes down the road.  It's been a busy 10 days since arriving home.  I've had this post ready to go for quite some time now, just haven't had a chance to update.  

It's also been nice to be back home for the holidays and just had a great Christmas with friends and family.  I have a unique family, this is certain.  Stay tuned for Christmas photos...  

Anyway, here are a few final moments from Seattle and some decorating/baking from Hershey.  Enjoy and I hope you had/have a Happy Holiday season!

(The day before I left Joel, Momo, and MJ caught a fever.  Momo wasn't feeling very well so I decided to keep an eye on MJ.  Buddy wasn't too far away, either.)

(He fell asleep in my arms which was an amazing feeling)

(He's out)

(Time to wrap gifts.  An unknown little tidbit about me - I hate wrapping gifts.)

(My nephew and I were able to decorate the Christmas Tree.  This happened about 4 days before Christmas.)

(Putting a few ornaments on)

(Getting a few more out of the box)

(This shot was posed)

(Finalized)

(The angel at the top...  there was most certainly a color scheme taking place)

(Mom likes nutcrackers.  When asked why she said, 'I don't know.  I just do.'  And so there are lots of nutcrackers.)

(Time to bake some Christmas cookies.  Unbeknownst to me this has become a family tradition.)

(Nephew and Mom as we start to bake)

(First on the list was pumpkin cookies)

(THe little guy is measuring the dry ingredients)

(Doing a bit of mixing)

(Time to put the cookie dough on a cookie sheet)

(First patch of Pumpkin cookies is ready for the oven)

(Sister arrived in the nick of time to lend a hand)

(We were making pecan tarts...)

(I'd get the dough out, G Unit was supposed to be rolling the dough into balls, and Nana was smushing.  At 1 point, possibly 2 the roles changed.)

(Pecan Tarts ready for the oven)

(Pumpkin cookies cooked - my favorite is with raisins)

(Sis and Ma making some chocolate chip cookies)

(This shot was staged)

(And here's my sister's grin to show how staged the shot was...)