Happy New Year!

Wow! I think this may be the longest I've gone without blogging in a while. Life has been busy with a capital B. I don't even know where to start except to say that I cannot believe Christmas has come. And gone. And here we are in 2012! (I'll post real photos later, but I wanted to let you all know we were alive)

A little nap time with daddy

My parents with the kiddos on New Years

Since Thanksgiving, we've been super busy with visitors. It started off with my parents for Thanksgiving, followed by our Maine friends who now live in Virginia (they were up in the DC area for a week visiting), followed by a dear friend, then Kevin's parents, who were up for their first Christmas with our clan! I don't even think we've attempted school more than once or twice since Thanksgiving.

Cousin dinner

Mimi & Callum on Xmas Eve

Christmas was fantabulous even though it didn't feel quite like Christmas! We had a great time with Kevin's parents. We went ice skating, went out to breakfast, baked Christmas cookies, made homemade pizza, wrapped a ton of gifts, shopped, played Santa, ice skated on Christmas Eve (which really put us in the Christmas mood), ate Thai on Christmas eve and had a wonderful Beef Tenderloin on Christmas day. And watched three very excited children open their gifts with squeals, laughter and smiles.

Daddy & Mairead on NYE

Mommy & Callum on NYE

The day after Christmas, Kevin's parents headed back to Florida and we drove up to New England.

FRIENDS! 

Girl cousins! 

So, here we are in January, and it's time to get back on track with life. We have just returned home from a 10 day trip to New England to spend time with family and friends. It was so wonderful to reconnect with family and friends and to meet my new niece, Olivia! She was born in October, and this was the first time we've met her in person. What a little love! I am so happy for my brother and Carley, and excited for them to experience the wonders of having a little girl. Little Landon is going to be a great big brother!

Cousin crew

Mairead snuggles with Kit on XMAS night

My dad was able to take the week off after Christmas, so we spent some time with my parents, too. We went ice skating, shopping and just spending some time together. On New Years Eve we all (my parents and brothers family) went to Portsmouth first night. We had some yummy pizza at the Gas Light Company, walked around a bit and watched the fireworks go off. It was a chilly night, but not too cold, so it was great!

Lovin' on my new niece! 

We were also able to spend a few days hanging out in Maine with some friends, too! It was so great to reconnect with everyone. We miss home so much, and the girls had such a wonderful time playing with their friends. We connected with my cousin and their three cute kiddos. Once again, the kids had a great time playing together, especially showing off their American Girl dolls (which are made in China, by the way.....that pissed me off when I saw that).

North Church on NYE

Skating on Xmas EVE

The ride to and from New England was thankfully uneventful. The kids did fantastic in the car! We even made it home in 8.5 hours yesterday - an all time record with four kids and two dogs.

Lilah snuggles with Kanani on Xmas night

So, here we are, back in Virginia, ready to get back into a routine again. Trying to start the new year off on a positive note, wondering what 2012 will bring. You never know what us Ferries have up our sleeve this year...

Merry Christmas from our Christmas angel!