Tim went on duty the day after Christmas and unfortunately was called on a trip that left at 6am and was gone for almost the whole 2 weeks…ugh. I was lucky to have family come visit over those next few days though which definitely helped me to hold onto that ‘Holiday Spirit’.
Thursday, December 27, my brother Sean and his wife Holly came down for a Christmas celebration visit. It was very nice. They arrived around 10:30am and stayed until almost 11:30pm! We picked up Brian at the Atlantic City Airport since he flew in from visiting Mom and Cecil in Florida. Brian was eager to get home and see his girlfriend so he didn’t hang out. After he left, Sean, Holly, the girls and I went to have a late lunch on the boardwalk at Mack’s Pizza. Since the weather was nice (but cold!) we walked a little bit and admired the ocean! Then we came back to exchange gifts and the girls were in their glory!
Holly and I went shopping for a little bit and Sean stayed home with all four girls. They had such a cozy time with their Uncle Sean! They loved it, he made them PB&J sandwiches, put on a movie and they had popcorn. It was bittersweet though because it’s always hard for me when our visitors leave. Sometimes it feels so lonely living so far away from everyone we are so close to. So, for the time they are visiting, I am able to forget that loneliness for awhile, which is nice.
Friday, December 28 was a quiet day for the girls and I. We worked on putting away more of the Christmas gifts and we were able to take a long, cozy nap! My cousin Tommy arrived around 10:30pm for an overnight visit to celebrate Christmas together. Tim came home just after midnight and was able to be home with us for a couple of days.
Saturday, December 29 was a very nice, family-oriented day. We loaded all the bicycles up and we drove to the OC Boardwalk to ride bikes. It was great. The girls did awesome and were able to burn off some much-needed energy.
We actually met another triplet family there too which was fun to see baby triplets again. Unfortunately, they do not live around this area; they were just down for a mini-vacation since the dad was home on a short leave from Iraq. We even got to go down and walk along the beach which is pretty cool to do in the middle of winter and something I have never done before moving to NJ!
After the boardwalk, we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner on the island. Then home to exchange gifts…this turned into the never-ending Christmas! Tim started to feel sick in the tummy.
Sunday, December 30 was not so much fun. Tim was physically ill all day (after having been up ALLL night…) He could hardly leave the bathroom. I was also ready for the girls to go back to school by this point, and I never thought I would be one of the moms to say that! I think the girls agreed! We were all getting on each other’s nerves just a bit! Also, that day, my cousin Tommy proposed to his girlfriend Kim at the Eagles game during Halftime, which was really exciting for them!
Monday, December 31 – New Years Eve! The girls and I slept in a bit then got showered, packed and drove the 2 hours back to PA for an overnight visit. First, we went to my cousin Karen’s house, in which the girls were SOOO excited to see their cousins! Thankfully, Karen and her husband Julio offered to watch the girls for me so I could run to the bank to close our accounts. The girls had so much fun playing, but it was time for me to take them over to Sean and Holly’s house for the NYE party.
The party was nice, I enjoyed seeing everyone and feeling like part of the group again for the night. The girls munched on every kind of snack available, including grandmom’s homemade cherry pie. Then it was time for me to take them back to Karen’s house for their exciting sleepover! And I went back to the party to relax and have some fun myself. I actually slept over at Sean’s house, which was nice of them to offer that. We watched the ball drop and had nice food and drinks. I finally fell asleep around 2:30am…so tired.
Myself, Anita, Holly & Jen:
Jen & Greg:
Anita, Ryan & Carl:
The girls:
Madison & 'Patty Ann':
Sean & Holly:
Baby Ryan:
The girls hugging/attacking Greg!
Kim & Tommy - newly engaged!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008 – New Year’s Day! I woke around 10am and spent some time with Sean and Holly then got showered and dressed. I went to pick up the girls and had a brief visit with Karen and Julio, which was very nice. Apparently, my girls were up until midnight, while they’re cousins were asleep at least an hour before that. This was the first time the triplets have ever slept somewhere else when I wasn’t there. They had a blast though! It was nice to get all the hugs and kisses when I arrived, but I think they would have preferred to stay and play MUCH longer!
After we left PA, we drove to a New Year’s dinner at our friend’s home in South Jersey. They were actually the realtors that sold us our home and they have since become great friends and the girls adore them as well! They had a fabulous meal and we were there from about 6pm until almost 10pm. Then it was time to go home and get the girls to bed in preparation for starting back to school the next day!
So, that about wraps up our holiday happenings. This past Sunday we were able to celebrate Christmas with my brother Brian and his girlfriend Amanda, which was very nice and we had a great visit together.
This year was very different than any Christmas we have ever had. Some of that was sad, but other parts were a nice change of pace and definitely lengthened the holiday celebration well into the month of January!
Here’s to an awesome 2008 full of love and good health!
