Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve has always been so special in our family and this year was no different.  We all get in our "Christmas best" and head to the children's mass and then a fancy dinner at my mom and dad's (a shrimp spectacular that's been a family tradition on my mom's side for more than 100 years).  My grandmother, aunt, uncle, and their kids from Chicago always join us; and my little sister Janet, her husband Brian, and their 1 month old, Gemma Faustina, made it in from Pittsburgh which made it that much more special.  This night is definitely a wonderful reminder of how blessed we are.  Thanks, mom and dad, for such a great time.

Enjoy the pics! 

The youngest and oldest at the party.

I hope you scroll through the next pics quickly because my mom wanted to see as many as possible.  These are the ones that made the blog after I cut 30 out.  

I think I'll have to cut and paste a combination of all those pics to make ONE GOOD one.  

After 1,000 cousin pictures, it was time to put baby Jesus in the manger.

Then the 3 amigos wanted a pic together - 

...which was a bust as well as you can see!  

But dancing, dancing is always a hit! 

And grandpa is always a trooper of course:

And before we left we had the girls open some pajamas.

Then it was back to the house and off to bed.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!