Christmas & New Years

Well this post is long overdue! I can't believe I am blogging about Christmas in February. We have had so much fun since we moved to Chicago that I still have a lot to blog about and I never want to skip anything so here I am blogging about Christmas & New Years months later. We celebrated Christmas with all of our family this year, which was so nice considering last Christmas was the first one that we weren't in Chicago because I was having Brooklyn:) So, we made sure this Christmas was extra special by making all of the necessary stops....

On Christmas Eve this year we started a new family tradition in my family- brunch at my Mom's house, which turned out to be perfect. We had a delicious breakfast that my Mom made and we exchanged our gifts with one another. Then, all of us met Brian's family at church and celebrated the true meaning of Christmas-the birth of our savior. Olivia was so excited to celebrate Jesus' Birthday!! It is so joyous to watch her love for the Lord grow.

Brunch and presents @ Nana's

On Christmas Eve evening we dropped by my cousin's house (on my Mom's side) to exchange presents and spend a little time catching up before we were off to our final location for the night- Grandpa & Grandma Giaretta's. We had a lovely dinner and got to visit with family who had never met Brooklyn. The girls were in a grab bag with the other cousins and it was fun to see them exchange gifts.

On Christmas morning we woke up to find Santa had stopped at our house!! The girls ripped through all of their presents from Santa & of course a few from Mom & Dad.

After presents and breakfast at home we traveled to Papa & GG's house for more presents and a yummy lunch cooked by my sister-in-law.

After their house we headed back to Nana's house for dinner, dessert, & (can you believe it) even more presents. Every year, my Mom has her family over for Christmas dinner. It was a nice relaxing evening and a great way to end our two days of running around.

It was kind of funny that we celebrated Brooklyn's 1st Christmas just one day short of her turning 1!!

The annual Beninato family photo by my Mom's 15ft Christmas tree!

New Year's Eve has also become a tradition between our families....Brian's parents always end up having everyone (even my family) over for an evening of board games, snacks, & lots of fun! It is so nice to have in-laws that love my family and everyone gets along so great that we often spend holidays with both of our families together. We stayed the night at my in-laws house and the girls didn't quite make it to midnight:-)