Holiday Travels - CT

I am always surprised by how fast the holiday season comes and goes.  It's hard to believe I am here typing up how the holidays went and what happened.  But here we go!

This year we started our holidays in CT to begin the every other year with each others parents.  It was my first year spending Christmas Eve/Christmas Morning with his family.  I am always eager to see how people celebrate the holidays and what traditions they have.  I just think it's great how everyone has their own special and unique way to spend time with each other.  We arrived in the afternoon and we were greeted with a fully decorated house that smelled of the holidays.  Rob's mother does an excellent job of decorating throughout the house and so there's no mistaking what time of year it is.  Before dinner Rob, myself, Bill, and Ellie went on a short car ride to Woodbury to see the town's luminaries.  They line the streets with them on Christmas Eve.  Kind of impressive when you stop and think of how many bags were set out.  We came back, ate a fabulous homemade lasagna and gathered around the tree for the famous tree lighting ceremony which Bill does every year.  It's kind of a fun family thing that is always different and up to the discretion of Bill as to what exactly happens.  Christmas morning we came down the stairs, grabbed some hot toddy and breakfast items in Christmas dishes and went to open presents.  Afterward, we took our time getting ready and headed over to Grandma's house.

Rob on Christmas morning

The Smith family

We piled into Grandma's house in time to unwind for a few minutes before dinner was ready and generally hung out with the family getting caught up.  By the following day the rest of the cousins had arrived and so did the snow.  We were getting hit with a blizzard for the next two days which really wasn't awful, but then again, I had no where to be and the company was nice.  Everyone had gone out for a walk after breakfast and when they came back, there were quite a few frozen bunnies.  We did the Christmas gifts there, followed by the fantastic grab bag.  I am pleased to say this year there was a nice mix of crap and good items.  The most fought over was probably the imported bottle of vodka from Poland.

Mary Jo modeling a fabulous pair of beer glasses with a wig, nice scarf and a pair of flannel Be Mine boxers from the grab bag.

Lauren taking vodka from Grandma

After we finished up with the gifts, I was in charge of getting a cookie decorating party going for everyone to participate in.  I brought all the cookies, frosting, and fixings and ran the show.  Grandma suggested we make it into a contest and provided prizes.  It was fun and kept everyone entertained and quiet for about an hour.  :) 

Everyone hard at work

Some of the lovely creations

After I had gotten everything cleaned up I decided to go out for a walk and take pictures of the snow.  I think I was somewhat successful.  

Later than evening after dinner, I suggested doing some family photos.  With the aid of a tripod, almost anything is possible.   

Grandma and her Grandchildren

We finished the evening watching Despicable Me before all piling in for the night. 

We spent the next few days visiting and playing games.  The last day we were there, they decided to go see the movie True Grit.  I am not all the interested in Westerns and haven't seen many of the movies I have wanted to this year so I felt funny going to see a movie I didn't really care about.  I went to the Outlet Mall instead and bought a couple of cute things which kept my plenty entertained and occupied while they were at the movies.

It was a really good visit with family and the roads were kind to us, both on traffic and weather.  Before we knew it, it was time to go and continue our journey on to NY.