Christmas at the Pappas'

I love family time! What a joyous occasion to be celebrating Our Lord's birth with those you hold most dear. Mom and Pops had a house full as Uncle Steve and Crystal drove up from Davie, Aunt Cary, April and Troy came over from Maitland, Nikki, Michael, Austin, Morgan, Kaelyn and Addison drove over from Deltona and Rory, Dylan and I from 5 minutes up the street.

Nikki and I
The younger guys - uhmm great posing:)

The younger gals - now we know how to get close:)

April with the three layer red velvet cake master piece.

She did a great job making it look as great as it tasted!

Dylan totally enjoying his couch/bed from his Aunt Nikki and family

Notice the little ones, Dylan and Addison, they have switched toys. Gau-Gau and Pops bought Dylan Handy Manny and Addi a pink wagon. Guess the kiddos decided to trade for the night:)

Daddy helping Dylan get to playing with talking Handy Manny and his tools.

Myself, My Wonderful Mom, Sweet Sister Nikki and adorable niece Addi

With My dear cousin Crystal and Uncle Steve

Addison and Austin

Kaelyn and Dylan

Morgan and Dylan

We had a wonderful time. Dylan especially LOVED being with his cousins. For days prior to family time all he can talk about are his cousins of course this lasts for days afterwards as well. Saying his prayers before bed after Christmas at Gau-Gau and Pops, he even prayed keep healthy cousins:)

Thankfully after this family gathering we are still able to tell Dylan he gets to see more cousins. As we are heading down to see Rory's side of the family on Christmas.

Family Time is Priceless!

Making Christmas Cookies

Dylan and Mom had a great time making Christmas cookies this year:) As you see below we even took a break to play the drums on the refrigerator with the measuring spoons:)

I am personally a very messy cook must be part of the reason I hate the clean up;) Dylan wasn't so bad we only had a little more of the ingredients on the floor than normal:)

This is one of my favorite aspects of clean up:) Obviously Dylan was enjoying it as well

Don't ask what the front blobs are - Dylan thought they were neat so we kept them.

(excuse all the boxes on the counter we are moving in 9 days)

waiting waiting waiting - the hardest part of cookie baking!

"I like it!"

Saint Augustine's Winter Wonderland

This afternoon we headed out to enjoy Christmas festivities at Saint Augustine's Winter Wonderland. It was pretty chilly for us Floridians though there wasn't any snow;) The fake snow is pumped out later in the evening. We by passed the ice slide and ice skating and instead enjoyed the scenery, Elf Village, Candy Cane Forest, The North Pole and the train.

Going in for a hugDylan had a ball at the Elf Village - the little homes were just his size. He went into the miner's cabin and I asked him what he was doing inside. He replied working. I asked what he was working on and he said a tunnel:) In another cottage, he said he was making Christmas decorations. I love an active imagination!

This was my favorite little house - so very Christmasy

Rory and Dylan entering the Candy Cane forest Dylan took a rest in Santa's comfy recliner at the North Pole

We had a wonderful time together:)

BIG Boy Bed Time

Dylan was able to "help" Daddy put together the frame for his big boy bed. We are grateful to have received a twin bed for Dylan from my Aunt Cary!
The next morning after Dylan spent the whole night in his big boy bed Mom needed pictures:)
so he got to pose.

This is actually close to how we found him in the morning:)

Hey folks look at me in my big boy bed