On Saturday evening I came home from running all errands all afternoon. As I drove into our condo complex there was a piece of furniture in front of our dumpster. There was a sign on it that said "Free! Please enjoy!" It is a beautiful piece of furniture that we are going to use as a china cabinet. We feel so blessed. Now each day when I drive up I check to see if there are any "treasures" by the dumpster!

Watch out for the rabid Gator fans in New England!!
This is Mom's office; the new capitol of the Gator Nation.

Way back in August, Matt and Tom took Amy and I on a surprise double date to Jacksonville. They had the whole day planned and the day ended with a romantic dinner on the waterfront. Ever since then Amy and I have been planning a surprise day for them. We gave the boys some money and gave them an agenda - which included meeting us back at our house at 6:30 sharp for dinner, all dressed up.

After the boys left for the day, Amy and I did 15 stadiums and then came home to cook. We made the boys a romantic dinner of chicken parmesan with a side salad and caprese salad. With dinner we had sparkling wine. It was so much fun to make dinner for them and get all dressed up. They looked so handsome.

After dinner we played a game with Amy's camera. We took so many pictures with the timer. With setting the timer once we got over 5 pictures in a row. We were amused with that game for ever.

We changed into our p.j.'s to watch the movie and eat peppermint ice cream. Amy and I did not enjoy the movie, but we had fun uploading pictures and blogging.

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.