Life does not always give you what you expect, but we have come to trust that we are always where we are meant to be and with faith, hope, and love we can conquer anything. Most importantly, it really is all about the journey...

Friday, December 28, 2012

Christmas Recap

Christmas Tree Hunting 2012 - One of our favorite holiday traditions...


Charlie managed to scrape enough snow together to make himself a snowball


Trouble!!


family picture by our tree before cutting it down



Decking the Halls...
unwrapping our nativity pieces
(makes mommy VERY nervous!)


Emanuel and Charlie "helping" with the tree garland


Charlie's tree outside his room with all his ornaments


Ben's mid winter's nap
He was quite content lying on the floor 
looking at the tree lights before falling asleep.


the boys after Christmas Eve Mass


Christmas morning - that smile says it all!


Ben might have been a little overwhelmed...

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Merry Christmas!


Merry Christmas from Charlie and Ben!

I know we are a couple days late, but that's how we roll lately! Life has been insanely busy and we have much that we should update you on, so hopefully in the coming days and weeks we will have many more posts. We are doing well and the boys are great. We wish you all the best this holiday season. Thank you for continuing to follow us on here. May this next year bring you much love, friendship, and happiness. 

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Daytona Beach

There is something very surreal about having a beach day with sun and sand all while listening to Christmas carols on the radio. We had a very special day though and Charlie had a great time taking full advantage of everything beachy!

nap time to the sound of waves


awesome sand castle with Daddy


proud builders with their finished product


Sheri and baby Blake!!

Grammy cuddling with Ben


running from the water


Think he's having fun?


:-)


Charlie footprints in the sand...

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Disney World: Day 2

Our second Disney day we headed to Disney Studios bright and early (by sleep deprived vacation standards) to have breakfast with some of our Disney Junior friends. Charlie was definitely a little taken aback by how big they were in real life but he recovered in time to collect signatures and get pictures taken. 

smiles on the shuttle bus :-)


Charlie and his hero, Jake


June from Little Einsteins - another favorite!


Daddy and Special Agent Oso went through the 
"3 special steps" for taking a photo together 
 - resulting in this great pic! :-)


Handy Manny was super nice and came back to see us a 
second time because Charlie was too nervous the first time around.


Funny faces with Daddy while shopping :-)

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Disney World: Day 1

Amid all the typical holiday time chaos, we also took a trip to Florida to meet our new nephew and cousin and to see Grammy and Grandpa D'Angelo's new home. We made a stop by Disney for a couple days since we were in the neighborhood! :-) It was a great time!

Two boys who should have been very sleepy as 
we had just arrived at our hotel hours past their 
typical bedtime. The Disney Magic was too 
much for them to miss though!


We had lunch with Pooh and all his friends at Magic Kingdom.
After some initial hesitation, Charlie was super excited!


Ben didn't even seem to question the logic 
behind giant stuffed creatures stopping to say hello....


Such a great smile on my big boy!


The conversation a few minutes before this was taken went a little like this...
DAD: Charlie, you want to go up to the buffet and pick out a cookie for dessert?
CHARLIE: Ummmmmm..... ok. But Mommy, if Tigger comes to our table, you YELL for me!!!


My little musician getting his drum beat groove on while we waited in line for the Winnie the Pooh ride


He rode Dumbo... Three times.


Grammy and Grandpa


Stopping for a photo op while collecting signatures


Goofy is GREAT at peek-a-boo!


Ben did great chilling in his seat as we traveled through the park


Cinderella's castle all lit up for Christmas