Christmas in the city of Pittsburgh

We took our annual Christmas trek into downtown Pittsburgh to enjoy the holiday decorations. We always enjoy the PPG Place Wintergarden, with Santas and customs from around the world as well as the gingerbread houses designed and built by many local schools, businesses, and organizations. Above, the kids' favorite gingerbread creation was Heinz field.
I couldn't resist taking Alec's picture with the Heinz ketchup dinosaur, since he's my ketchup kid!
Then we did something new to our family and visited the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning. The Nationality Rooms are a must-see, especially during the Holiday season.








We thoroughly enjoyed our family day in Pittsburgh this year and even experienced some new sights. Happy New Year to you and your family!

Snapshots of Christmas 2010

Merry Christmas! We enjoyed our Christmas very much and hope that you and your family did also. Here are some snapshots of our Christmas day....above, opening the stockings.....

all of the gifts were very much appreciated.....

and helping Darrell open his big gift was fun....(an espresso/cappuccino maker)....

Christmas dinner at Uncle Mark and Aunt Joanne's house....

helping Pap play "Santa".....

and almost all of the cousins (Bruce was missing) plus one girlfriend!

Unfortunately, we added one sick child to the mix...can you guess who is wrapped up there?

'Tis the season.....

for making gingerbread houses....this one they all worked on together and showed off the side of the house they completed.....

and for ice skating.....Alec was crazy on the ice once we borrowed this red "ice walker"...it gave him way too much confidence!

Ann-Marie and good friend, Danelle......

and Evan looking not very thrilled....he only went around a couple of times before calling it quits. We all had a good time anyway and many of our friends were there to hang out with. We're loving Christmas break!

Christmas Preparations

Cookie baking and decorating.....

and decking the halls and tree....

Merry Christmas!

Ravioli Day 2010

Ravioli day at the Jerome family means it is getting close to Christmas! Above, two of Darrell's sisters (the expert dough checkers) testing out the rolling machine.
Darrell and his sister making meatballs for Italian wedding soup.
Ann-Marie apprenticed this year on the dough rolling.....Aunt Karen even made a special batch of dough just for Ann-Marie. I think she got a little too involved.....
lovely Analise showing off her dough...
the four beautiful granddaughters in their handmade aprons....a tradition and they all still fit!
The Ravioli and meatballs are made and frozen....the countdown to Christmas begins!

Alec's 5th birthday party

In our family, the 5th birthday is a BIG one where we invite lots of friends and go do something special we wouldn't normally do. This was our last 5th birthday celebration and Alec chose Fun Fore All in Cranberry. His theme - Green Lantern (a good guy superhero....the cake is in the shape of his symbol.)

Alec invited friends from his homeschool coop preschool, Sunday school, and our Maryland friends came also!

Blowing out candles,

spinning the birthday wheel,

and a group picture (I think we were missing Gabby!)

Our wonderful friends from Maryland!

And one of the guests hit the jackpot....1,000 tickets! She was able to do some Christmas shopping in the prize store!

Alec and his best buddy from Pennsylvania....

and his best buddy from Maryland! Everyone had a great time.

PACyber Old Economy Christmas tour

A nice way to begin the Christmas season was to have a tour of Old Economy and learn about German Christmas traditions. We heard a story about the leaning tree, saw a variety of Advent houses, learned the history of hanging stockings, and saw simple, yet beautiful decorations.
Singing "Jingle Bells" with real jingle bells was fun!
To end our tour, Belsnickel grumpily greeted us to a Christmas party, complete with cookies, drinks, and a peek into his "naughty and nice" book to make sure all the children were listed in the "good" category (they were!). What fun!

The Wonder of the First Snowfall of the Season......