Happy Holidays!

Both Joe and I have been on vacation this time of the year and can I just tell you how wonderful it was to spend this time with my family? Waking up in the morning and spend part of the morning in pj’s making coffee, making breakfast, going to the market and the simple fact that we were together all the time reminded us how lucky we are and how blessed we are to have each other. It was so nice to just stop, breath and ENJOY every minute. Sometimes I feel we just rush too much and we try to accomplish things in life and do that, get done that and we forget to be appreciative of what we already have. Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. It was the time when all my family got together at my grand parents’ house. I wanted to do the same with my family here in the US. Joe and I hosted the 25^th at our home. We cooked traditional Romanian dishes such as sarmale (ground pork and beef wrapped up in pickled cabbage), eggplant salad, boeof salad, devilled eggs etc.We started on Christmas Eve with Rondi and Mark. We had a nice evening together laughing, cooking, unwrapping presents, playing with Sasha. Now that we live closer, Rondi has been helping a lot with Sasha whenever we have to work later or watching Sasha when she has a fever etc. I have been very close to my grandparents growing up and I would like the same for Sasha.The 25^th we gathered at our home. Our good friends Carol, Luke and their kids joined us, Rondi, Mark, Grace (my friend from Ecuador) and Kyle (Joe’s good friend from college). We had a great time with friends and family. We really missed Cami this year, but we’re very happy she had a great time in Dominican Republic with her dad. The rest of the time we relaxed, worked on our new home, pretty much getting organized to start the New Year with the right foot. On the 31^st Joe cooked a wonderful dinner (fish, risotto and asparagus), we drank champagne, we watched a movie and went to bed. It was the first year when we didn’t go to a party. I guess priorities change when you’re the parents of a 7 months old and sleep becomes first priority. We woke up the next day and we met up with friends to go see the Rose ParadeJ which was passing 2 blocks from our house. We celebrated Grace’s birthday and Sasha made new friends with little Alessandro who is 3 and a half and very gentleJ. Happy New Year everyone!

Here are some pictures of our vacation at home:)

                                     Picking up the christmas tree with Mark, Joe and Sasha

Thank you Aunt Nancy for the ornaments. They had a special place on our tree.

Sasha and her Grandma

                                                

                                                        Joe, Rondi, Mark and Sasha

                                                      Grandma's presents were the BEST

                                                        Uncle Mark makes me laugh!

Appetizers for Christmas Dinner

Carol and Sasha

Daddy is the best!

A little insight to their time right before Sasha's bed time.

At the Rose Parade