HOLY HOLIDAYS!!!!  Christmas has passed and it sure was a whirlwind this year!!!

We kicked off our Christmas Holiday with the Riley’s Annual Christmas Eve mass and holiday party.  We had an absolute blast and there was fun had by all…. especially the girls who roped Uncle Scottie and Shannon into doing nothing but jumping on thier beds.  Needless to say, I think that Uncle Scottie and Shannon were exhausted!!!  Big Thank you to Gee and Bill for a wonderful time and the Christmas goodies for the Girls and Mommy and Daddy!  (P.S…. Carly’s Baby “talks” to us EVERYDAY!!! LOL)

We then came home and got ready for Santa.  Avery and Daddy set out Cookies and Milk for Santa and some Carrots for the Reindeer.  (Avery was adamant about the Reindeer being very hungry and needing a snack too!)  Then, as the girls slept in thier beds with visions of sugar plums dancing in their heads (cheesy, i know!)– SANTA and his crew made an appearance and left all kinds of goodies and presents under the tree!

The girls woke up and immediately went into overdrive once they realized Santa had come to town.  They tore through their presents and it was a sea of wrapping paper, laughter, screams and craziness.  Santa sure did a good job this year with knowing exactly what to bring!  All of the grandparents were here to take in the chaos along with Uncle Matt and Nicki!

Once things settled down here at the homefront, we got ready to go celebrate the holidays at Mema and G-Daddy’s house with Aunt Cristy, GJ, Alex and Nick.  Dinner was delicious and the kids got spoiled again with all of the presents at Mema and G-Daddy’s!  Carly’s big gift was a Mini-cooper car (which the girls couldn’t stop fighting over) and Avery got a Disney Princess Vanity!  The girls were definitely excited (as were Mommy and Daddy)  with the final gift of the evening from Mema and G-Daddy which was a SLEEPOVER for the girls and Alex and Nick!  This gave Mommy and Daddy a chance to go out and have fun with some of our friends and then get some much needed sleep after all of the chaos of the day!

The following day, Saturday, we had Christmas at DD’s!  Talk about being SPOILED!!!!  The girls got lots more goodies including a princess table and chairs set, lots of “crafty” things for the girls to play with (finger paints, markers, crayons, etc).  Carly got a Dora doll and nursery set and Avery got her favorite RUDOLPH movie– and the girls each got Princess Marshmallow Lollipop’s–(YUMMY!!!)  We ended the night with some family bowling with the Gallagher family, which was hysterical and an absolute blast!

Sunday, we had our Christmas with the Rogers family — Big thank you to Aunt Gail and Chris for dinner!  It was delicious!  The girls got some books– which the girls LOVE reading books, barbie ornaments, and some money to put away for a rainy day!

Monday was a big playday!  We all went over to have a playdate with Lily and Emilie at Loras… the girls played so well and the mommies had a great time catching up!  The girls exchanged Christmas gifts and were spoiled yet again with all kinds of fun things!  Carly has been playing with her new puzzle non-stop, and Avery of course loves her new mirror (she can decorate it herself)– after all, she does love to look at herself! LOL  Avery then went over to play with her girlfriend Bianca!  She came home with a beautiful manicure and pedicure (courtesy of Mrs. Letty) and her belly was filled with lots of Junk!!! — Just the way she likes it!!!

Tuesday, we made a trip to Delaware to visit with GML and Pop.  It was a long trip, but we had a wonderful time visiting with Grandmom and Pop.  The girls explored every angle of the house and of course had the most fun playing hide and seek and jumping on the bed.  When we left, we weren’t in the car but a few minutes and everyone was fast asleep!  (not daddy though– he got to drive! :-))

So, as you can see, this holiday season has been CRAZY BUSY!!!  We had an absolute blast, but we are looking forward to some down time and relaxing days in the new year!   We have enjoyed all of the special time that we have been able to share with our Family and Friends and for those of you that we have not caught up with, we hope to catch up soon!  Until then, we wish everyone a happy holiday season and best wishes for the NEW YEAR!!!   Look out 2010— Here we come!!!!