More Christmas and New Year's! The last on the topic, promise!

Don't want to get too behind with my promised Christmas post.
Christmas morning was just perfect and much like I'd imagined it to be. Isn't that great! So many times things happen so very different than what I play them out in my head.   It was so fun to watch the kids be so excited. Dacian got his beloved and much wanted garbage truck and Lavi, you can see she got a doll house and she loves it. Shane got me a nice digital photo frame and it also plays videos and I like it because it's big like a mini TV. Shane got a Windows phone so this year we were totally spoiled.

Later on we had guests at 1pm. Dacian had had a play date with a friend from preschool and I totally connected with the mom of this little boy. She's from Bulgaria so it was like talking to a Romanian in a way. So much in common with all the Eastern Europeans. Anyway while at their house I felt prompted to invite them over for Christmas. They said they were just going to be alone for Christmas so I thought that it'd be more fun to have  friends over and I am so glad they accepted the invitation. It was so fun to make new friends.
While I was cooking in the kitchen Eva said that she was a chef in Bulgaria and I just about fell off my chair. Gulp. I didn't make anything too fancy as a matter of fact the ham wasn't that good and the double baked potatoes were just OK (didn't have time to cook the bacon like I had planned), nothing spectacular. Mostly because I ran out of time of doing them right. You see with all the presents the kids got our morning lasted a little long. I still  hadn't put the ham in the oven and then I realized it was going to take longer than I had thought (it was a cooked ham) and here I was making rolls and baked potatoes. Of course the ham was to be cooked slowly while the rolls were supposed to cook at a higher temp. Needless to say I was a little stressed and then I felt all weird offering not super good food to a chef. But what she told me is that she was so beyond happy to have someone else cook for a change and she of course said she liked our food. At least the desert was excellent. Thanks to mom who came early to help me make it.

Also her husband is a super duper good photographer who had a gallery of his own, published work in Bulgaria and was invited here because of his photography. So I am way excited to have someone show me more about photography. One of these days we will go back to their house.

Dacian and Nicola with one of the many presents he received. Our friends totally came with too much stuff for us. So, so nice and thoughtful of them. Also so very Eastern European. I love it! Can you tell I miss home?

After they left we rested a bit and watched more Christmas movies. The next day we had Charlotte and Michael (in laws), Kim-cousin and Scott and Candice with their kids-brother and SIL. We had fondue and appetizers and had a lot of fun as a family. I will take advantage of any gathering to have fondue. Yum! Too bad I don't have any pictures except for a few of the kids. They decorated gingerbread men.

New Years was also a hoot. We were invited to our friends' house like last year and rang in the new year with lots of dancing and kinect games. The have a great big room perfect for dancing and games and a projector and a big wall to project the stuff on to.
I brought my Salata de Boeuf (Romanian potato salad that I shaped in the form of a snow man-see below) and another cake just like the one for Christmas. It was a busy holiday season and I am glad it ended but I will also miss it.

Oh, almost forgot to mention about our special day when we took Charlotte out for a pedicure. My sister in law Candice and I took her out one day while the boys were watching the kids and we really got pampered. I have never up to this point had a manicure or pedicure. I opted for a manicure since no one would see my party toes for a while. I still look at my nails and can't believe they are mine. What a nice treat. They lasted quite a while and it wasn't too expensive and they even massaged my hands/arms. I will be going back now that I know what I've been missing out on.
Also that day earlier we went with the kids to the 321 Bounce and Chuck E Cheese's (of Chuck E Jesus as Dacian calls it) and had a blast there too. All in all a great holiday season.

We wish you all a Happy New Year. May you have the best year yet and may all your wishes come true.