The Happiest of Holidays (Part II)

The Happiest of Holidays (Part I)

Christmas was extra special for my family this year because my brother got married on Christmas Eve! My brother and his high school sweetheart have been together for nearly 10 years. They live in Boston now but luckily decided to get married at home in Florida, at my parents' house. They had a beautiful wedding at sunrise on the patio and everything was just perfect.

The beautiful bride, with her flowers and cake.

The adorable flower girl - my new sister-in-law's neice.

My sister, who married my husband and me, performed their ceremony too. It's now a tradition in our family to be married by a sibling, so I guess I'll have to perform my sister's wedding one day.

Gorgeous sunset ceremony.

My sister, brother and me.

Our first Christmas as husband & wife.

After a wonderful, if untraditional, Christmas Eve, we had a great Chrismas morning - our first as a family of 7. We opened presents and then had brunch. I made a sausage and egg casserole and monkey bread, and I think it was pretty tasty. {The cooking process was complicated somewhat by the fact that my parents stovetop started malfunctioning on Christmas Eve and only worked intermittently - but we still managed to put out a pretty tasty Christmas brunch and dinner.}

The Mister and I are so lucky that our families live within five miles of each other. It makes the holidays so easy because we never have to decide who to visit - we're able to see everyone for each holiday. After brunch we went to my mother-in-law's house to see her, my sister-in-law and The Mister's grandparents. We went back to my family's house for dinner and spent the rest of the night playing board games & Super Mario Bros. on Wii.

Saturday morning I woke up early and went to Super Target to scout the sales on Christmas decorations. I found some ornaments and Starbucks Christmas blend coffee 50% off, so I'd say the trip was a success. We had lunch with The Mister's dad Saturday afternoon and then met up with my family to go to the movies. While the boys and my sister-in-law went to see Sherlock Holmes, my mom, sister and I went to see It's Complicated. I LOVED it. It was hilarious & sweet and only strengthened the mega girl-crush I've developed for Meryl Streep. That woman is just fabulous and she was terrific in this movie. I can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD so I can see it again.

After the movie we went to dinner with my family at one of my favorites - Carrabba's. Some friends came over to my parents' house after dinner and we played a great game called Partini. If you've never played it, I definitely recommend it. It's a lot of fun with a big group.

When Sunday came around we were so sad to have to head home. It was a great Christmas that I know we'll always remember.