The Ramos Family

On Christmas morning, Maria was the first to wake up. We had gotten home pretty late from Auntie Myra's the night before and we really didn't want to wake Bella up - we wanted her to get as much sleep as possible! Lorenzo woke up next and finally, after Maria did everything in her power to be as loud as possible, Bella finally got up! They were so excited to see all of the things from Santa - their stockings were full and he also put their bigger gifts on the fireplace ledge underneath each of their stockings - they didn't have to unwrap anything! They both got a big Glam Girl beauty box and I'm pretty sure that was their favorite thing. Bella pretty much brings it with her everywhere! We got them High School Musical 3 Dance for PS2, a double snow tube and some other small gifts. Santa was very good to me too - I got a pair of tall black Ugg boots! I must have been good this year :o)

Christmas Day was spent with the Pelletier side of the family at our house. The food was unbelievable - thanks to the awesome planning committee!! The kids had fun opening all of their gifts and Dad/Grandpa Don made us all absolutely beautiful gifts. For the kids, they each got a car/truck bank; the men all got a tool chest and the women got a jewelry box (we'll take pics and post them - my words don't do them justice). He also wrote all of us a very nice letter. Mom/Grandma Kay donated gifts in all of the grandkids' honor - here is what the card says that she gave to each of them:

In your honor, a gift has been made to Heifer International. Heifer provides livestock and training to struggling people around the world so they can become self-reliant for food and income. May this gift bring you joy as it brings hope to a family in need.

Grandma donated rabbits in the Ramos kids' names: Because rabbits reproduce so rapidly, they are a great source of protein and steady income for families with limited land. Their nitrogen-rich manure can also greatly improve crop yields.

Maria reading the card from Grandma Kay

Lorenzo playing with one of his boy toys from The St. Paul Pelletier's

We had bought a gingerbread house last year that never got put together. When I brought out all of our Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving, I set the gingerbread house kit in the dining room. The girls asked nearly everyday if we could put it together but we were always busy with SOMETHING! Finally, on Christmas vacation, Grandma Kay and the girls worked on assembling the house. Apparently the frosting wasn't doing it's job very well ~ the roof wouldn't stay on! Probably has something to do with the fact that it's from a year ago! The girls had fun anyways, putting the frosting on the pieces and then adding as much candy as possible!

On Sunday, December 21st we celebrated Maria's 7th Birthday at Wakota Arena in South St. Paul. We had a 'party' room that overlooked the ice rink and we started off with eating dinner. The kids had hot dogs, chips, pop and an ice cream treat and the adults had sloppy joes (Grandma Kay's recipe) and chips. Our final treat was the birthday cake - Maria asked for High School Musical cake and wanted the piece that had a heart with BFF on it. It was by far the piece with the most frosting.........and she doesn't even like frosting! After eating, Maria opened up her gifts then everyone got their ice skating gear on! Some of the kids play hockey so skate really well, others had never skated before - but I think everyone had a good time regardless of their skill level! Most of the adults had fun as well, with the exception of some sore ankles and arches from the high quality rental skates ;o)

Here are some pictures of Grandpa Don feeding frosting to Lorenzo. I'm not sure who enjoyed themself more, Grandpa or Lorenzo!!!

We celebrated Christmas Eve with Paul's family at Mike & Myra's house. There was SO much unbelievable food - Tita Li made all of the Filipino favorites plus everyone else brought something to share. Everytime I walked into the kitchen or just nearby, I had to try one (or two) of the goodies! As always, it was a laughter-filled, loud and fun evening! Lots of games for the kids and adults and opportunities to win money! Lolo and Lola are always so generous! Lola put a bunch of money into a jar and each person gets a guess at how much is in there - the person with the closest guess, without going over, wins all of the money. There was a jar for the adults and one for the kids. Maria guessed $50 and there was $51 and she won! She was very excited and decided she would put the money in her donation jar for Feed My Starving Children.

There was also a talent contest for the kids - it was pretty entertaining. Maria played a song on the keyboard (and later sang O Come All Ye Faithful) and Bella sang We Wish You a Merry Christmas and twirled. There was lots of Jingle Bells and Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer - TJ played his trumpet (very well) and Sophia played her recorder! Lolo had a tic tac toe game for the kids as well and all three of our kids won, they each got $10. Finally, there was the dice game for the kids and the prizes were gift cards to Target. All of the adults were watching closely, coaching (yelling at) their kids telling them to roll faster, get the $50 card, etc. It was pretty funny! Aidan & Owen ended up with the $50 gift cards, Maria got a $30 gift card! All-in-all, it was a pretty profitable night for her!

We decided to draw names for the kids this year because it was getting to be a bit much to buy for all of them. It was SO nice to just have a few gifts for each of the kids. Lorenzo got a Little Champ sports game from Sophia - it has baseball, basketball and football - yeah for sports stuff! Maria got a Hannah Montana guitar filled with makeup from Eddie and Bella got a Hannah Montana t-shirt and the Cheetah Girls - One World song/CD from Gen Gen. The girls both got a Hannah Montana doll from Lolo and Lola. Thanks everyone for the gifts!

The girls always love when it's time to go see Santa. He always starts off just talking with them, asking them questions and making sure they're being good helpers and listeners at home. He also asks them how old they are too and Bella told him she was three! I think she was a little excited! Lorenzo was all smiles so we were able to get some good photos fairly quickly. See you next year Santa (oh, and thanks for all of the gifts you brought us :o) )

On Sunday, December 13th, Maria had her first piano recital. She played three songs, Ode To Joy, The Dance Band and Here Comes the Parade. I thought she'd be really nervous but she wasn't - she got up there and played all three of them perfectly! This was Evie's first recital as well and she was one of the first kids to go and did really well too! We were so proud of them both. Auntie Juli was so nice and stopped to pick up flowers for us to give the girls - we had a rather crazy morning and didn't get a chance to stop before the recital. Thanks Auntie Juli and great job Maria & Evie!