Christmas Recap 1 (Carlton House)

With the normal craziness of Christmas, it should not be too surprising that I didn't take many pictures until the actual Christmas festivities started.  The first big celebration for us was Christmas Eve and Grandpa and Grandma Carlton's house.  We look so much forward to our big family celebration -- it's the designated time for all of us to celebrate together.  My parents, the Biancavillas, Carltons II (my brother Matt, his wife (Deborah), and my niece (Katie) and nephew (David)), and Carltons III (my brother Jimmy and his wife (Nicole)) all share presents and have a yummy meal.  This year, we had tacos for Christmas dinner -- how exceedingly SoCal was that?  LOL.  I think we just wanted a break from the normal holiday food.  

My mom's typically gorgeous Christmas tree.  I adore this Christmas tree -- it is absolutely dripping with ornaments from FIVE generations of my mother's family.  A group of ornaments are over 100 years old!  Every single memory I have of Christmas is centered around this tree, in this exact place.  It is my delight to celebrate Christmas here with my own family now . . . more on our new Biancavilla family traditions in the next post. 

After dinner and before presents, we sang a few Christmas Carols lead by none other than our own DAVID!  My nephew has found a recent love of the guitar, and as introverted as he often is, had no problem playing a few tunes for us.  Abby, who absolutely adores her cousin, was enthralled at his talend!

As you can imagine, Abby was simultaneously thrilled and overwhelmed at all the presents.  She could only focus on one and a time -- and one of her favorites that night was a Little People dollhouse from Uncle Matt and Auntie Deborah.  She spent a good 15 minutes pushing the Little Man around the coffee table and make "weeeeeeeee!" noises the whole time.  It was fabulous!

 

Yes, this is my mom.  And this is my mom with her new, stylish SNUGGIE.  HAHAHAHAH!  Let me clarify.  This is my mom with her new, stylish Snuggie that she absolutely hates but she was pretty good natured about the Christmas gag gift.  :) 

Ever since a few health issues a couple years ago, my mom is notoriously cold -- all the time.  We suggested that she invest in a Snuggie on several occasions, each time this was met with extreme disdain.  It was the perfect opening for a gag gift.  We couldn't resist the extraordinarily tactful cheetah print, either.  She was a great sport -- though I think the smile above is half grimace, as well.  Hehe!  Don't worry, she got a real present as well :)  (Oh yeah, and in case you're wondering, the Snuggie has been sitting in an unused heap on the side of couch since then.)

Last, but certainly not least, this is our precious little elf at the end of one very fun evening of family, food, and song.  She was so proud to run around and show off her penguin PJ's . . . and despite the late hour and pending arrival of Santa (and even MORE fun!), she was in fabulous mood until the very end.  Little ones bring such joy to this gift-giving holiday!