My apologies for the delayā¦ and the extension of Christmas far beyond where I should probably be posting about it š I blame it on the fact that Iāve basically been one version of sick or another since Christmas Eve! I donāt know if itās been my hiatus from teaching ZUMBAĀ®, or my laziness, or the season, or the stars mis-aligning but I cannot seem to stay healthy! First Strep and a double ear infection Christmas Eve, then a sinus infection, then a stomach virus, and now a head cold. If the next time you see me Iām wearing a bubble, or a surgical mask, you know why! So please excuse me while I catch up on a month or two worth of bloggingā¦ in a weekend!
Moving onā¦
Every year the one thing I ask for is ornaments. I put up 4-5 trees in my house each year. Most of them are themed, but the 12-footer in my family room, and the little tinsel tree in Marshallās room are all an eclectic collection of pieces that mean something to us <3 For those of you who know me, you know that I love every single thing about the holiday season. My trees are usually p from November 15th, until at least January 15th! Iād leave them up year round if I could! Last year I decided I wanted to start taking pictures of all of my new tree pretties, A) so I could remember years from now who/where they were from, and B) because I just <3 Christmas tree bokeh š So, hereās a few (or the many) of my special ones from the year.
Youāll notice a lot of Disneyā¦ We went to Disney 3x and went on a Disney cruise last year. Nothing beats a Disney ornament and we usually end up with multiples from each trip!Ā I picked this pretty green one out on our end of school year trip that Marshall and I went on in May! We flew down to Orlando, stayed in our condo on Ormond Beach for a couple days, drove in and spent a few nights at the Grand Floridian, then met up with Troy for a day in Universal before we all headed back out to our condo for 2 more days at the beach! Marshall picked out the Crash and Landing one, obviously š
These two were chosen at Magic Kingdom after our first Disney cruise in March 2013! We are counting down the 28 days until our next one š
Our final trip of the year was one I begged and pleaded with my husband for. We were supposed to be starting the IVF process in January (before I found out I needed the last surgery) and I just HAD to go to Disney before I put my body, heart, and mind through another cycle. He finally cavedā¦ and off we (Marshall & I) went to spend 5 nights at Animal Kingdom Lodge! It was our first time staying at AKL and Marshall loved waking up to, and checking in on the savannah to check off all the animals from his animal watching list! We were not however fans of the buses, and prefer the MK area hotels but, definitely thankful we decided to stay at AKL at least once. Not to mention thankful to have been able experience such wonderful trips, and memories with my little family. While Troy is not a huge Disney fan, he does love cruising so we bring him along for those, and leave him at home for the park trips!
You can imagine who chose the Mike & Sully ornament. I always get a gingerbread ornament (or two) when we are there during the holidaysā¦ which is our favorite time to go! The green personalized ornament was a gift from me to Marshall via one of the in room celebrations they offer via Disney Floral & Gifts. Nothing beats having him come back to the room after a long day of walking the parks to a surprise on his bedā¦ Iām going to miss those days when the magic loses itās lustre for him a bit. I hope he continues his love for it, I know I wonāt be losing mine š The star ornament was Marshallās ornament of the year, a gift from us to him that he will take with him when he grows up and has a tree of his own someday <3
The wine glasses from a dear friendā¦ Christmas + wine for me is always a hit!
The little bird from Lake Placid Lodge, the ice skating moose from one of the cute little shops in Lake Placid. Marshall also got a smaller version of the bird for one of his trees.
No year is complete without a custom wood framed printā¦ this year I got two! I took the one of Marshall in Lake Placid in Nov., and the one of my nephews running on the beach in OBX while we were there with family & friends in July.
Every year Marshallās school participates in this art program where the children create some masterpiece and weāre able to order all sorts of goodies with the design. This was Marshallās 2013 masterpiece!
This one is designed by my very talented Mother-in-law! Sheās been creating them for the past few years, we always give them away as gifts, and all proceeds go to benefit needy children through the community action she works with in WNY.
Next upā¦ (yes I really got this many new ones in one year!) my annual ornament from Troy and Marshall. Each year we go to Rockefeller Center, eat dinner at Rock Center Cafe, and watch people skatingā¦ and falling š This year we were blessed enough to witness a magical proposal as they cleared the rink for ācleaningā but instead a man grabbed his soon to be fiancĆ© by the hand, hit the ice on one knee, then they were able to skate around together while they held everyone else back off the ice. So cute! Annnnnddd we went the see A Christmas Story on Broadway.. hence the leg lamp. Loved the show, and love NYC!
A gift from my brother and his family for my two golfersā¦
Last but certainly not least, Marshallās silver bell. A new tradition I decided to add this year. Each year we make hot cocoa from scratch with fresh marshmallows, watch Polar Express in front of the fire, listen to Marshallās little bear read Twas the Night Before Christmas, and let him open his Christmas Eve gift, and pajamas. This year I decided to start getting Marshall his own silver santa bell, to test if he can still hear the bell š
I do have one more, but sadly I missed taking a picture of it. My little mini-me sister got me a cute blown glass candy ornament as well! Now, today I will take down the last of my 5 trees for the year, and sadly shut the door on the season. Iām a bit later than normalā¦ but I also donāt normally spend 3 out of the 4 weeks after Christmas sick as a dog! Thanks for reading alongā¦ Happy Friday š
