Christmas 2016!

Merry Christmas! A King is born! We had an exciting Christmas. We all have been battling some kind sickness but we powered through these last few days.

Christmas Eve: Family photos (group one was used with a timer) after Mass. The one on the bottom left is right before we opened gifts from family and each other. The girls loved every minutes of it. The photo on the bottom right is of the girls casting out the reindeer food for Rudolph and the crew before heading to bed.

Christmas morning! The girls loved their new toys. The big girls asked for new iTouch 6s and Christina wanted a Barbie jeep. They also got new S'Well bottles, dance outsides, candy, sketch books, jewelry among of things. 

Crusin' the 'hood Christmas morning. It was warm with temperatures and the 50s!

We ended Christmas day with a Thunder Game and victory! The girls love these games, especially when they get to meet the Thunder Girls and get autographs. The seats are pretty sweet, too. 

I will close my last post of 2016 with lyrics from one of my favorites Christmas songs, O Holy Night. Our country is divided and our world is full of pain, injustice and hate. Each time I listened to this song this season my heart swelled with hope. The last verse, which is rarely included in renditions of this song, is my favorite. Here are the lyrics:

Truly He taught us to love one another;
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains shall He break for the slave is our brother;
And in His name all oppressions shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
Let all within us praise His holy name.

Merry Christmas and please, love one another!

The Nutcracker Ballet

This year was our fourth year in a row for the girls and I to attend The Nutcracker Ballet together. This was Christina's first time and we all truly enjoyed it. It's a beautiful performance as always and puts us in the Christmas spirit. This is a photo of us waiting for the performance to begin. 

Remembering Grandma Connie

Yesterday evening, my grandmother, Connie Mangino, passed away. May she Rest In Peace eternally. We will miss her so much and I am grateful for many wonderful memories -- when she would paint my nails and let me put on her perfume when I was little, our conversations about politics and current events and her countless stories that always made me laugh. My favorite memory will be from my wedding reception when we danced the Tarantella together in front of all the guests. I am so fortunate this special memory was captured with photos. Grandma, we love you and miss you!

More Christmas fun

We're definitely in the holiday spirit with our busy schedules. It's all fun which is good but we're busy!

David and I attended a Christmas party this past weekend. Hooray for adult parties!  

My three lovely ladies and I enjoyed our second Mother-Daughter tea. So much fun to sit around a table with them and chat while we enjoyed delicious tea and yummy food.

After the tea I was able to get a picture of all of us. Special memories for sure. 

Opening up their letters from Santa. They were so surprised! 

Making Christmas cookies. 

Creating a gingerbread house.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We started this Christmas season with several parties including the children's party at the Club. Here, the girls had their first of two visits with Santa this weekend. They had a great time getting their faces painted, decorating cookies and dancing. 

They love visiting with Santa. Christina wants a Barbie jeep and the big girls said they want new iPods. 

Mrs. Claus gave them each a stuffed teddy bear after their visit with Santa. 

Our family in front of the big beautiful Christmas tree. 

The girls' second visit with Santa after Mass on Sunday.  Their requests did not change in two days time. Whew!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a very relaxing weekend. We did not travel nor did we host any family. We relished this time to be a family of 5 and spent time together by eating a great meal, decorating for Christmas and going to the see the movie Trolls. We definitely missed being around extended family but we also had some special family bonding time. 

Watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in the morning. 

Just before we dove into our delicious Thanksgiving meal. 

After we decorated the house for Christmas we had a family movie night.  

We hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving. We have much to be thankful for and we thank God for those many blessings.

Ice Skating

We spent the afternoon in downtown OKC when Aunt Megan and her boyfriend, Dom, visited us this past weekend. We enjoyed ice skating in the mild temperatures. By the end of it,  the]]]]=] Gabby and Adriana were ice skating on their own and Christina enjoyed being held and guided the entire time. :)

Smiling girl.

Christina getting a lot of help.

Daddy's turn to help Christina.

Gabby is always up for a good time. She challenged herself a lot and was determined to skate on her own and she did very well.

I don't get in many photos but glad I got this one with sweet Adri.