We’ve really made our Christmas rounds this year. It’s amazing how many relatives you can see in just a short period of time. After taking a couple of days to rest after our Midwest Christmas activities, we hopped in the “black car” (as Hailey calls it) and drove 9 hours to my hometown in PA. I’m proud to say that I drove the ENTIRE WAY THERE on several Caramel Macciatos, of course. Generally, I’m out within the first hour, so this was a big feat for me.

We arrived at 5:30 am and Grandma Peggy was up and anticipating our arrival. It didn’t take Hailey long to make her way into the living room, where most of the Christmas decorations were glowing bright for her to admire. She instantly fell in love with the ceramic wreath and the “flicker” candle inside. We sat up and chatted for a few minutes and then all of us tried to catch some z’s and wake up at a more decent hour. After that long drive, lots of caffeine and excitement of finally reaching our destination, it wasn’t easy. When we finally did wake up, we sat and opened all of our Christmas gifts. Grandma Peggy gave Hailey one of her favorite things, a new Care Bear! She also receive some adorable new clothes, a frig toy and a My Little Pony (which was a huge hit).

After gift-opening, the guests started pouring in. Uncle Rick came by and Hailey warmed up to him right away. Then, Grandma Peggy started offering her cookies and well, she became an instant favorite after that! Cousins Mindy, Rachel and Alexa hung out for a little bit which made things really fun for Hailey. She would greet them at the door and say, “Hey! Come in to my room!”. The living room and our old “play” room became Hailey’s rooms. Our friends came by later on and Hailey got reacquainted with Sophie. They played “walk around the house” together. We were able to meet brand new baby Tony. I had a hard time putting him down. =)

Hailey had fun helping Grandma with the dishes. Looks like she’s doing all the work though! One night while we were home, we went to Uncle Kenny and Aunt Sara’s house to watch the Steeler’s game. Hailey made herself right at home in Alexa’s room. She cheered from the sidelines as the big kids played a game. We hung out until after Uncle Kenny and Aunt Sara went through all of her old clothes. New cousin Isabel will be here in March! We can’t wait!!! When we left that night, we were greeted with lots of puffy white flakes falling from the sky. It was so pretty! We romped around in the snow for a bit before driving back to Grandma Peggy’s house.

When we got back to Grandma’s house, we tried to catch snowflakes on our tongues!

We rang in the New Year with family. We had a few games of cards going while Hailey and Alexa played. It was no use trying to put her to bed at a decent hour so she was up pretty close to midnight! Alexa crashed out on the couch when the ball dropped. This was one of the best New Years we’ve had in a while!

We spent the 1st pretty hungover exhausted and just looked forward to lounging around. Family came over once again and we had a nice New Year’s dinner. Uncle Bill and Aunt Stacey came over when they got back from their trip to Johnstown. The guys all watched Illinois get their butt’s kicked (sorry daddy). Hailey and Alexa were able to play one last time before we made the trip back to the Midwest. Mommy’s friend Becki came over and played for a little bit. I’m so glad she finally got to see Hailey again! Maybe she’ll have a little friend for Hailey to play with one of these days. =)

Goodbye’s are always hard but we had to come back home and get back to some normalcy after all of the holiday excitement. We’re looking forward to getting together with our Eastern family again soon!