Christmas in Connecticut

We had such a fantastic holiday this year!  Dan, James, Emma and I headed up to Connecticut to celebrate with my side of the family. It is great when we are all together because it doesn't happen very often.  My brother, Peter, lives in LA and doesn't get home too often. My sister, Nina, lives in Boston so she is fairly far from us as well.

Christmas Eve we headed down to Shelton for our Feast of the Seven Fishes.  My dad's side of the family is Italian so the is a really special tradition that has been carried on for so many years.  This was the first year without my grandmother, who passed away in March, so it was tough not having her there to manage everything. It was a very special celebration for her that she always took the time to do and keep the traditions alive.  It was still very special though because James loves seeing his cousins!  The Zoppi/Cote cousins are very special to James and Emma and they both treasure the time they spend with them.  They are all getting older and could easily not want to play with the little ones but all five kids are so patient, kind, and really really good with both James and Emma.

On Christmas Day, we opened gifts, had awonderful breakfast,  went to church and then headed to Winsted to celebrate with my Mom's side of the family.  All so much fun,  here are a few pictures showing our Christmas morning!

And here are a few from our time up in Winsted at my Sitto and Giddo's house (Grandma and Grandpa in Arabic). This was the first time in 3 or 4 years that we were all together.  Woo!  It was crowded, hot, but very good to be with everyone.  These photos are from my cousin Marin because I didn't take a single photo that afternoon!

We are home now, relaxing, and getting ready for Round 2 with the Confer/Krebs Family!