Christmas Joy & Non-stop Baking

The last week was a whirlwind of travel, playing in the snow, baking, stuffing my face, seeing family, crying, and collapsing on the sofa.

You know, the usual Christmas stuff!

We spent a few days visiting my in-laws in New Mexico, which was fantastic. It snowed 18 inches in their town the night before our arrival. Angeline and I played in the snow, we threw snowballs, Chris and I made a snowman, and we almost got Angeline to make a snow angel in the front yard. I normally don't care too much for the desert scenery, but I have to admit, it was absolutely beautiful when it was covered in a foot of white puffy snow! I kept finding myself going outside; I just wanted to take it all in and take a million pictures before it melted.

We were only there for a few days, so it was jam packed with activity. We visited with my brother in law, Chris's uncle, his aunt and his maternal grandmother. One day we spent the entire afternoon playing the "let's see where Daddy went to school" game, followed by "What's new in this sleepy desert town?" and drove around for about four hours. It was funny to watch Chris freak out over the new buildings in his old town. Also, we spent a lot of time just freezing our asses off. (I'm not complaining, it was a nice change of pace from our sweltering Miami heat!)

When we came home, my cousins had just arrived from Oklahoma and we spent quite a bit of time with them and their four children. It has been amazing to catch up with them and watch Angeline play with her cousins that she has either a) not seen in 5 years or b) never met at all! That's the fantastic thing about family - 5 years can pass by without contact but as soon as they are in the same room again, its like nothing at all. They were playing, posing for pics, and having a grand time together.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day passed by in a blur...we spent the morning running around with Angeline's cousins and spent the evening with my mom's side of the family. I baked non-stop - seriously for like 24 hours straight - and brought a bunch of desserts to each meal (there are plenty of family meals around Christmas because our family is so large). I think my dishwasher hates me right now....

My cousin roasted a whole pig in the backyard for Christmas dinner and the rest of us brought side dishes and desserts to accompany the roast. It was our first time doing the whole pig on a split thing - its a bit intimidating, embarrassing, etc. Thankfully, it wasn't done at my house, and my neighbors can't laugh at me! I couldn't spend more than a few hours at Christmas dinner, as the house was full of about 15 kids - playing Rockband and Just Dance - and having spent the last 24 hours cooking, I was completely exhausted. Shit, I am still exhausted. I went home to nap and ended up just laying in bed watching Celebrity Ghost Stories until I passed out.

How did you spend your holidays?