Traditions

Growing up, my mom did a wonderful job raising us by (mostly) herself and adjusting to life in this country (she moved here from Brazil in her 20's when she married my dad). I am sure it was hard trying to raise American girls on her own yet still connect us to our Brazilian heritage. All of our extended family (on mom's side) live in Brazil and it was not always easy to carry on family holiday traditions or to start new ones for American holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc). With that said, my sister and I loved our childhood and wouldn't trade any of it!

SO (long story getting shorter), I think this is why my sister and I try so hard to carry on and create new family traditions with our own families. For us, it's caramel rolls on holiday mornings, 'Christmas Vacation' movie to start the holiday season, new pajamas on Christmas Eve, etc. Like my sister mentioned in her blog, it's exciting to think that our kids will carry on these traditions!

We usually spend Christmas Eve with Chet's side of the family with Mass, presents, and a lasagna dinner (so yummy!). And then we spend Christmas morning with just us and Christmas Day with my parents with a feijoada dinner (Brazilian food- so good) and more presents. More fun traditions!

This year, I am thankful for these family traditions~

Matching dresses for the girls and new family photos
Time with family and friends.
This is most of the Lamis crew after church.
Camille and Isaac playing with his fun bubble fire truck!
All the Lamis cousins before we head home on Christmas Eve. Poor baby Keeley- we always seem to take this group shot at the end of our family gatherings and she is wiped out and not happy!
New pajamas on Christmas Eve. If you saw their pajamas drawers, you would see that I LOVE striped pajamas (especially Hanna Andersson ones!).
All the "big" kids- Beth and BJ (Chet's brother), Joe and Angie (Chet's sister), Chet and me. And especially for family photos like this! Chet's dad is cancer free!
Seeing the kids' reactions when they see their toys from Santa!
Is that really for me??

In case you were wondering why there are no pictures from my family's Christmas Day get together, Chet and I somehow caught a stomach bug and were sick all day! That is one tradition I will NOT be continuing. My parents gave us the wonderful gift of staying with the kids and putting them to bed so that Chet and I could just sleep. We didn't even get to eat our feijoada- bummer!
Can't wait to see what 2011 brings!

Bella's birthday bash

"Momma, I'm a big girl now"- one of Bella's favorite lines from a 'Hairspray' song.

I know I say this every year but it's so hard to believe that Bella is 6! For some reason, any age over 5 is a big girl to me.

For her party this year, we had a carnival for her and her friends/cousins. Bella loved it and actually told me it was one of her favorite parties.

Julia making cousin Keeley smile- so cute!We asked a teenage friend of ours who is an artist to paint faces for the party. A huge hit!

Holiday Express

Julia and Bella both danced in the Holiday Express show for their dance studio this weekend (Julia just joined the ballet class last month and learned the dance in a few short weeks). The show showcased holiday songs from different countries. The opener was a dance to the Polar Express song with all the cute dancers in their holiday pj's.

It was a cute show and always fun to watch the girls perform! Great job girls!

Picture perfect

Picture perfect...this is what I thought when looking through all our pictures!

*All the cousins minus Camille who was sleeping in the truck.

We drove to Idaho (18 hours in 1 day!) to spend Thanksgiving with the Buchanan's (Suzanne and Pat's family) and my mom. I hate living so far from my sister and her family so trips like this are so cherished! We never have any concrete plans for our visit but everything we do seems to be so perfect and fun! I know that sounds corny but it's true. We all love being together so much and we have fun no matter what we do.

The Buchanan's live just outside Sun Valley, ID and it's gorgeous! I loved walking around this beautiful resort town.

I took this picture of Camille just to show her adorable winter boots from Bobo (my mom)!

We even saw Santa riding around town on a firetruck!

We caught up with him and the kids loved telling him what they each wanted for Christmas, especially Will who just talked and talked. So cute!

It was a unseasonably cold week there but it made it even more magical for us. The kids loved playing in the snow together!

We went sledding on a beautiful hill that was surprisingly empty- we had it all to ourselves. Braden, Julia, Will and Elise were such pros on the hill and loved running back up for more. It was the most fun I have had in a while- I am usually a wuss when it comes to outdoor sports but I had a blast.

Snow bunny!
Pat giving a push for Julia and EliseSuzanne and adorable little Will. Bella on the other hand is not a fan of the snow. She was done after her first run when snow got "in her jacket and her eyelashes". It was actually comical to watch her! She even made up a song about hating snow:
(to the tune of Barney's "I love you,you love me" song)

I hate snow
Snow hates me
We are not a family

She was SO happy to see grass as we crossed the Arizona border!
We also got to cut down a Christmas tree (a first for me and the kids). It seemed like the perfect post-Thanksgiving activity!
When we were back at home, we all just had a blast hanging out.
Chet and Pat enjoying a beer
Camille and her preferred "mama". Camille can now say "Bobo" but still calls her mama.
The kids performed plays for us like Red Riding Hood. Love the dress Mr. Will!

At one point, I looked around and found this:
Braden and Julia reading together

Elise and Bella playing the piano.

They all get along so well, rarely fight and we never heard "I'm bored!"

On the last night of our visit, my mom offered to stay with all 6 kids to let the the parents go out. I can't remember the last time the 4 of us got to go out together without our kids. It was so fun to be real adults and just talk!
The kids all ready for their movie night with Bobo!
My beautiful sister and me!
Out on the town~ Pat, Suzanne, Chet and me
After this trip, I decided that I would love to live in a colder area and absolutely loved their neighborhood. Chet shot the picture of the Buchanan's closet neighbor. I love this shot and the house! Suzanne and Pat's house is equally beautiful, we just didn't get any good shots of it. If I had one of those Dream boards where you pin up picture of things /goals you want in life, I might just add this photo..