home for the holidays

We went home to Wellesley, MA where Robin grew up for Christmas. Heather (Robin's sister) and Ricky (her husband) were home from CA as well. Ricky grew up a couple towns away in Stoneham.

December 23rd is Ricky's birthday, so we all went over to his parent's house to celebrate.
His mom, Mary, and dad, Rick:

Sister Kaity, and her fiance, Dan:

We had a white Christmas! Well, it did not actually snow on Christamas, but there was plenty of snow already on the ground.

We decided not to do presents this year. Although, there were still a few tolkens handed out. But, the real gift is each other's company. Plus, most of the time you get silly gifts you don't know what to do with, and feel bad throwing away. This way everyone saves money and we all help save the environment! And, we really appreciate just spending time together, which seems like a good Christmas spirit.

Heather made an apple pie for Christmas dessert:

David made Bok Choy and I made Gluewein (a mulled spiced wine). Also, we had ham, creamed onions, and smashed sweet potatoes.

One of the tolken gifts my mom gave us all was funky hand-made socks (well, she didn't make them, but someone in Vermont did.)

Also, David got a puzzle of NYC. He, Heather & I spent on afternoon putting it together, only to discover that there were missing pieces! It was a fun puzzle, but in the end it was not satisfying because we never got to have the pleasure of placing the last piece.

For New Year's Eve Heather, Ricky, David & I hung out. We had pizza dinner, played some video and board games, talked and drank champagne at midnight.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! It was a great vacation and we loved spending time with our cool sis and bro-in-law! Fun times!