with a twist…
this year since my grandpa is still in the rehab center and couldn’t make it home for christmas we brought christmas to him.
how many family members can you squeeze into one rehab bedroom…25!
that is until we found a huge unoccupied activity room that we took over and turned into the location for our Christmas party…a much better place for such a big family
grandpa with all of his kids (minus one aunt couldn’t make it)
most of grandpa’s 18 grandchildren…plus bill …I love having a big family!
when did they become grown-ups?! where did all of the little kids go?
somehow we always end up sitting in a circle…whether or not there’s a table
do you see the extra wheelchair in the circle?…that’s right we had an extra “visitor” (read random person) join the party for an hour or so…guess we were just that fun
i think the helicopters were the big hit this Christmas!
family picture with grandpa…poor guy couldn’t see after all the pictures
Erin was teaching the girls the thriller dance. They actually got pretty good!
after a long day the guys were ready for a nap in front of the football game
then it was off to the hotel for the yankee swap and some more hang out time
All in all it was a really wonderful three days with my family!
I’m so glad that we’ve kept this Christmas tradition alive!
The weekend before Christmas my parents came down to the city to enjoy some of the Christmas sites through out the city. We then headed downtown to eat at Mario Batali’s restaurant Otto. Don’t I just have the greatest family?! I’m so lucky! then it was home to Newburgh for Christmas Eve…where like every Christmas Eve since I was little the local fire company drives through the neighborhood with Santa so that we can wave hello and in turn get a handful of hard candies…sometimes it’s the little traditions that mean the most
Merry Christmas!
sooo happy to be home Christmas morning to enjoy this view!
We all really enjoyed Erin’s cheetah print snuggie from Dan….great gift Dan!!
Bill didn’t get in on that fun, but he and my Dad had plenty of their own fun with their new remote control helicopters!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends…I know I did!
I was supposed to spend Christmas working at the hospital…just one of the perks of being a nurse . However, what really happened was…I woke up Christmas Day at my parents house and got on the 4:57 AM train to head down to the city…fell alseep on the train…got a phone call a half hour into the ride asking if I wanted the day off…YES!!!!…got off at the next station and waited for the next train home!!! I ended up having to wait for two hours for that next train because it was so early in the morning, but it was totally worth it to get home and be able to spend the entire day with my family! (pics to follow later)
In case some of you were wondering when I would post next…sorry! My computer was on the fritz and wouldn’t turn on. My Dad came to the rescue though and fixed it and basically gave me a brand new computer! Thanks Dad!
Since my computer black out you’ve missed a lot of Christmas fun in the city…here’s a small glimpse of the what you’ve missed…
most importantly, what Christmas season would be right without some Christmas get-togethers and present exchanges with friends?!
Here’s a tour of Christmas in the city walking from uptown to downtown
Lincoln Center at 64th St
Columbus Circle at 59th St christmas shops
St. Patrick’s Cathedral at 51st St
Radio City at 50th St
Rockefeller Center at 49th St
Grand Central at 43rd St
Bryant Park at 41st St
34th St Macy’s was ready!
Washington Square Park on West 4th St
Hope you all enjoyed this very long tour through Christmas in New York!
(I would have broken this post up, but needed to catch up…sorry)
well…visions of the Sugar plum fairy, the Mouse King, Toy Soldiers, and most importantly the Nutcracker himself danced in our heads!
sometimes a picture says a thousand words…this is the case here!
call you tell how happy and excited the three of us were to be sitting there in the nosebleed section just waiting for the Nutcracker Ballet to start!
There’s something about this ballet that just brings you back to your childhood. I don’t think you can watch it without imagining yourself as a child dreaming of being up there on the stage and dancing as the Sugar Plum Fairy. It was a magical show with everything one could hope for…even snow falling beautifully on the stage through out a whole dance number…amazing! Definitely feeling the Christmas spirit here in NYC!
Dan and I decided this year to get our first ever live Christmas tree of our own!
So I gathered some friends (ie/ Lisa and Bethany) and we headed down a few blocks to pick out the perfect tree.
I’m happy to say that right away we all agreed on the same tree…sold!
then in the freezing cold we headed home happy as could be to start decorating!
I think this looks like we’re posing for our apt Christmas card
the garland looks great Lisa!
beautiful snowflakes Bethany!
Dan sending some holiday greetings to our lonely neighbor across the way
a live Christmas tree in a small NYC apt = amazing Christmas tree smell!
Thanks to my Christmas elves for all their help decorating and for bringing the Chirstmas spirit into the apartment! Wouldn’t have been the same without you guys!
Our apt is now a Christmas wonderland!
While waiting for the parade to start the crowd got a little antsy and then rowdy when someone spotted someone wearing a Boston Red Sox hat…what were they thinking?! There was then some serious cheering while one Yankee fan unsuccessfully tried to set the hat on fire before the hat got thrown around the crowd and spit. Wrong time and place for a Red Sox fan!
CC and Teixeira
Swisher and Damon
(do you see all the cameras … sadly I think some peope forgot to get a look at them in person and really enjoy the moment…not me, just aim the camera above you head and hope for the best while still getting to see everything)
Damon
Joba
Jose Molina and AJ Burnett
HERE COME THE CORE FOUR!!!
Jeter!
Jorge!
Pettite!
just as it should be…Rivera ended the parade!
Dan and Lisa cheering both for the Yankees and for their ability to have the room to move their arms and legs again.
some days your just extra glad that you don’t work for the sanitation dept!
that’s how many miles over 40,000 people in NYC ran earlier this week. I think they were all crazy!! … but at the same time totally amazing and inspiring.
thanks for another heart-warming, fun, and inspiring day Anne, Jose, Rob, Marie, and all the other runners I don’t know but cheered on anyway. This day is always just one small reminder of why I love this city and its people.
Happy Marathon Day 2009!
practice…practice…practice…
or just be Stephen Lynch! this space is sooo historic and beautiful!
(how much do I love my new phone’s camera’s panorama feature!) the view from our seats!!!
Bill, Erin, Margaret and I (Dan couldn’t make it last minute…glad you could fill in Margaret!) headed to midtown to go to our first ever show at Carnegie Hall. The show as by comedian/singer/songwriter/actor Stephen Lynch. He is so talented and extremely funny. Nothing is off limits in his comedy and several times we all looked at each other with “did he really just say that?!” eyes. Our seats were amazing! We were basically on the stage. It was perfect because from our seats we could really take in the whole theatre. I know that Carnegie Hall is famous for its acoustics, but it’s not until you are sitting in the theatre listening to someone on stage that you really understand what all the hype is about. It truly has the most beautiful acoustics of any theatre I have ever been in…and I’ve been in a lot!
This past January for my Dad’s birthday Erin and I decided to give him a trip to the city to hang out, visit the Intrepid, and to go to dinner to try some different foods that he doesn’t get to try with my Mom. Now fast forward to yesterday, October 17th….we finally fulfilled our present. oops! better late then never, right?
My Dad came down on the train in the morning and met up with Erin, Dan, and myself and we headed off on our day of adventure
(it was Dad’s gift. so we left Mom at Woodbury Commons home and away from whatever “exotic” foods we were going to be eating for dinner.)
the Blackbird…the world’s fastest and highest-flying aircraft ever built
the Crusader…first supersonic fighter designed for carrier use and the fastest plane to fly from the Intrepid
the Grumman F-14 TOMCAT….the coolest plane to see up close. not only was it used in the movie Top Gun, but even cooler because my Grandpa was on the team that designed it. Amazing Grandpa!
the A6 Intruder…another awesome story….my Grandpa flew in the cockpit of this plane and landed on the Nimitz airforce carrier to see the F14 in action. I can’t even imagine how amazing that must have been! You should have seen how small the cockpit was! Scary! He might as well have been flying the plane!
the AV-8A Harrier….can take off vertically like a helicopter…what?!
Who needs an audio guide when you have my Dad! Seriously! He knew everything about every one of the planes. He’d say lets go over and see the ____ and we’d be like “huh? which one is that?”. In the picture above Dad was describing how the plane is able to take off vertically. He said…do you see that flap behind the gas tank?…and we said…i don’t even see the gas tank! we need need things described in colors…oh yes the white flap!
we thought people might join our “Dad tour”. . . they probably should have. they would have learned a lot!
the museum also houses the Growler submarine…claustrophobia anyone?! Dan and Erin rescuing Dad in the Bell medical evacuation helicopter (like the ones on MASH)…nice rescue guys!
nothing like a little family lifeboat photo…who’s rocking the boat!
After the Intrepid we took the subway down and met up with Bill to have dinner at Alta on 10th St.
2 bottles of wine + 12 different tapas + 5 family members + great conversation= 1 amazing meal!
Then it was time to say good-bye and put Dad on the train home.
What a perfect day!
…I love having a big family!
