Christmas Day

As I have said in past years, I am thankful to still celebrate Christmas day the same way I did growing up and the only way I have ever known. The only difference now is that Hayley & Jerry do not spend the night on Christmas Eve but they do arrive early on Christmas morning to have breakfast together and open presents. In fact, they were so on the ball this year that they got up and ready and over to my parents' house before I even woke up (which is why I look a little groggy in the picture below!).

After a delicious breakfast casserole and freshly squeezed orange juice (both newer Christmas morning traditions) and opening every individual gift one by one, we hit the road for Petersburg to spend the day with the Newton side of the family.

Mawmaw is not the easiest to buy for so I was thrilled to see her using a gift I bought for her a year or two ago.

 Pictured below is the usual spread of food that Mawmaw solely prepares. How crazy that it takes a panoramic shot to capture it all! We usually offer to help with the cooking but I honestly do not think she wants any assistance. We do not like how much time and effort she puts into feeding us but we sure do appreciate the good food.

Actually, Mom did contribute to the desserts with one of my favorite sweet treats. These are no bake chocolate/peanut butter balls full of deliciousness...coconut, flax seed, oat bran, honey, walnuts, and dark chocolate cocoa to name a few.

 Handy gloves with a built in drink koozie for the cousins from their Dad. They had fun modeling them.

 

 Me with my two cousins. Sad Hayley was missing from the picture because she and Jerry had already hit the road to head to northern Virginia to be with Jerry's family.

And here are a few photos of Christmas decor in my house and my parents'...

One of my favorite new ornaments from the year - a memento from my Bald Head Island trip.

Castonguay Christmas

Tradition used to be that Mom's side of the family would get together on the Eve of every holiday. We've started meeting the Sunday before Christmas to avoid working around different church schedules on Christmas Eve and for it to be a more convenient time, but this theory didn't work out this time. Between work obligations, vacations planned, and the flu running rampant, we were missing 20+ people. This crowd was very mellow and quiet. It was definitely an unusual Castonguay gathering. I guess we know who the loud half are now!

This is Grandma's first Great Great Granddaughter A, who is quite the entertainer these days with all of her facial expressions and attitudes. These pictures were taken AFTER her mouth had been wiped with a napkin. What a mess!

And the second Great Great Granddaughter...

A has frequently been at my Grandma's house when my Mom is there visiting so she knows Mom well and is a fan of "Aunt Jan"...

Sweet seeing Grandma playing with baby B

Love those smiles!

Christmastown

My family + Ted took advantage of the discount Christmastown tickets offered this year and went a few weekends before Christmas. Although Busch Gardens is right down the road from my parents', we do not necessarily go every year. It's a fun way to enjoy the spirit of the season and take in the beauty of so many Christmas lights. Even better is that Busch Gardens portrays Christmas as a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus rather than just a fun holiday. 

The weather was chilly, which seemed fitting for the time of year, but fortunately it was not unbearable. In past years it has been so cold that all I could focus on was getting back in the warm car.

The "dancing" tree set to music...

My one and ONLY ride on Mach Tower. During the normal season, this ride takes you up and drops you quickly 246 feet. However, it takes you up and down slowly during Christmastown so that you can enjoy the view of the lights from high above. Even though the drop was not a thriller, I was still way more nervous than I cared to be. The lights were indeed beautiful but I spent more time concentrating on my breathing until my feet were back on solid ground!

Thanksgiving

I do not have that many photos from Thanksgiving because I was too busy visiting with all of my family and enjoying the bountiful meals, but here's a few worth documenting. As usual we celebrated with my Mom's side of the family on Thanksgiving Eve and then with my Dad's side on Thanksgiving Day.

It often seems like an overstatement to say that there are always new babies on the Castonguay side of my family, but the truth is, there really is at least one new baby born in the family every year! The new baby this year is Bria, who is the daughter of my second cousin and granddaughter to my cousin. It's crazy that my cousin who is only a few years older than me is already a grandmother!

Grandma and her newest Great Great Granddaughter

All 5 generations

Mom with her mother and 5 brothers

Enjoying time with my cousins!

My sweet Grandma who is still getting along well for a 92 year old!

Unfortunately, no people pictures from Mawmaw's house the following day. All I captured was the food. We love the food but the family time is what I treasure the most. Even though most all of our family lives so close, it still seems that we do not get together very often. 

Mawmaw makes so much food that I can only take the tiniest portions so as not to get uncomfortably full before we even get to the desserts. I also have given up eating some of the dishes that aren't on the top of my list. Why waste space in my stomach that could be filled with my favorites?! So...the plate below is probably missing at least another 5 foods that I didn't even try. 

All of the ridiculously yummy desserts! It's a good thing that it's not optimal (for my stomach) to eat these because if I didn't have that restriction, it would be easy to overdo it!

Cold Beach Getaway

I was thankful to manage a long weekend getaway to Nags Head the weekend before Thanksgiving. It came at the perfect time. Resting was much needed and it was such a treat to get a break from my normal routines and constantly running around. I believe I slept for at least 50% (or more) of the time I was there! After at least 9 hours of sleep each night, I would wake up and eat breakfast and then immediately take a nap for another 2 hours. The remaining time was spent cooking/eating, watching movies, and playing around with my camera and photos.

While it's a little hard to be at the beach when it's cold, I also appreciated the fact that I was forced to stay inside (because of my aversion to the cold). Fortunately, the house was right on the beach so I could enjoy the water view while staying warm on the couch.

It did warm up one day so that warranted getting out for a little walk on the beach. Of course, my camera is always tagged along.

Plenty of foot and vehicle traffic on the beach. Surprising for this time of the year!

The combination of sleep, sun, sand, and sea just make me happy!