On Christmas Eve the Mario family joined us at my parent's house. Pat and Kate came over as well. We took all sorts of pictures on Christmas Eve so we could wear jeans on Christmas day. Here are all the "formal" pictures.

For dinner we ate the traditional veal parmigiana. Thank you Mom for preparing all the food. It was really good.

Matt and I were so excited to see Grammy open one of her Christmas presents. For the past few months she had been asking us for real vanilla and we were able to get her some. Her reaction to the vanilla was priceless.

On Christmas Eve day the Mario family, Pat & Kate, Mom & Dad, Matt and I ate lunch at the Aunt's house. We usually have cold cuts for lunch with Charle's Ice Cream for dessert. Before lunch Matt and I had Flo-Flo open one of her Christmas gifts. It was real vanilla that we got for her from Mexico. She had just asked us the day before for it and we had to tell her how hard it was to get and we'd see if we could get any for her. She was so happy to get the vanilla!



Me with my cousins Vanessa and Dana.

Matt and I with Nina and Elsie.

Following with Sylvester family tradition we took a trip into the North End to Cafe Graffiti, Salamaria, and Haymarket. I had been looking forward to an authentic cappuccino for months. It was delicious. Nothing tops it.

We waited at Salamaria for about 40 minutes along with many other people to get our cold cuts and Romano cheese. Most of the Italians wanted baccala (dried fish). Notice the large cheese hanging from the ceiling. It weighs so much.

After Salamaria we waited at the butcher shop to get the fresh pieces of veal. It was so interesting watching all the meat that was cut and sold. It is so expensive, but so yummy. What a treat to eat our traditional veal parmigiania for Christmas Eve.

This was the closest we got to snow while we were in Boston. For the most part the temperature was in the 40's and 50's. It was great since I love being warm and all I brought was a fleece, but at the same time it was our only chance to get snow. Oh well. There is always next year.

As a Christmas present for my parents, Patrick, Katie, Matt and I took them to a Bruins hockey game. The Bruins played the Vancouver Canucks. Before the game we made Mom and Dad dinner - chicken parmigiana and salad. We drove into the game and parked under the Fleet Center. Dad has a friend who got us into the nice seats, since we bought tickets in the nose-bleed section. We also got to walk around on the media floor which overlooks the entire rink. While we were up on that floor we met the PA announcer for the Red Sox and he had the 2004 championship ring. He let us try it on. It was sweet!

Mom and Dad got a new cappucino machine as an early Christmas present. Every morning on vacation Matt and I woke up to a cappuccino. It was such a treat.

While I was in Boston for Christmas break Mom and I made a tree skirt. I started it over 2 years ago and finally finished it this visit. I began by cutting 60 different squares of fabric and then sewing them all together. There were many steps involved and Mom was very patient with me while I sewed. When it was done I was really proud. Some day when Matt and I stay home for Christmas we will put it around our tree.

One of our favorite things to do on Sunday mornings is to hang out and study at Panera. We usually do more talking and laughing than studying. Amy usually makes her famous "diablos." This morning we gathered at Panera one last time before we all leave to go home for Christmas break.

Our Family Group did a service project of feeding the homeless in downtown Gainesville. We made 100 ham and cheese sandwiches.

Here are Zach and Sean helping to fill the bags. In each bag we put a hard boiled egg, a banana, and a bottle of water.

I loved this sign hanging up in Caleb and Emily's kitchen so I had to take a picture of it.

Everyone brought plastic containers to take home all the leftovers. Enjoy!

Back row from left to right - Matt and Christen, Bob and Lisa, Karl and Jenny, Scott and Lindsay, Caleb, Sean, Lucy and Dustyn, Rich & Brianna & Kim
Front row from left to right - Kristy and Zach and Evie, Emily, Amy and Tom, Josie, Jenn, Laura

Zach and his daughter Evie Kate.

Matt and I
Tom and Amy

We had our Family Group Christmas party at Caleb and Emily's house. There were so many goodies for dessert. The night was full of laughter and fun.

We began the night with singing praise songs and Christmas carols. Laura and Bob led the singing. Afterwards we ate lots of sweet treats. Then we drew numbers for the famous White Elephant game. The While elephant gifts were once again hilarious. Some of the funniest ones included cologne from Turkmenistan, a book on how to grow marijuana, a singing tie, and needle point. After the game some of us stayed around to play a serious game of charades - guys vs. girls. The game was Christmas phrases. The girls won the game with the winning phrase - Feliz Navidad.

Our friends ... Karl and Jenny.

Emily and Caleb with Amy in the background.

Dustyn and Lucy

Scott and Lindsay with their White Elephant treasures - giant fish serving platter and a Napoleon Dynamite bobble-head doll (which was a hot commodity).

Jenn, Lisa and Josie