#2- Thanks & Quality Time with Friends and Family, Part Trois

I've made it to Post #2- Wahoo! I've run out of steam, though, and I think I'll give myself a Christmas gift- a little blogging break! Once Post #1 of 25 Days is complete, I'm taking a blogging vacation! Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving me comments! I have "met" some awesome folks, and appreciate you all leaving such kind comments! I thank the bloggers who tried the 25 Days of Christmas... I don't know about them, but I certainly found it hard to write that much!

We've been Social Sallies lately & have had a great time! Friday we got together with the Chef Messies for a little Fondue and homemade hot chocolate! My fondue didnt' turn out so great, but it was still pretty tasty! Kim made yummy hot chocolate and we got to watch their son Matthew open his gifts-- he's into cars and trains and such! Such a cutie! Thanks for having us over, we had fun! :)

Today we went to Richmond to get together with some of Jeremy's family. Not everyone could make it as his parents are in Tokyo and many of his siblings (he has 6) live far, far away or were ill... we still had nice get together!

We met at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which was under extensive renovation, but still had a very nice collection! I tried to take pictures of the kids and even some of the adults... but no everyone would cooperate!

Ellie and Benjamin




Chiara-There was some pouting after visiting the gift store; in this case, that she couldn't get the Yo-Yo she wanted. I can't wait to show this to her in 20 years!


Afterwards we headed to a great Cuban restuarant called Kuba Kuba.... really terrific food and fun decor... with such pleasant weather outside and a colorful interior, it felt like summertime!

More attempts at pictures...
Chiara


Jeremy and his brother Casey


Later we headed to a playground across the street...

Casey, Charlene, Chiara and Benjamin



Jeremy and his sister Leslie (her daughter is Ellie, who would not allow me to take a decent photo!)




Us


Thanks for planning this Charlene, it was a great idea!


We'll have more time with friends and family Sunday. Sunday afternoon, my friends will come over for a lunch. These girls I've been friends with since forever, so I'm sure we'll have a blast. I can't wait to give them their gifts!

And Sunday night, we're going to an evening service and then doing Christmas with my parents and brother.

Tuesday we're off to Philly, which is always fun. Hope you're getting to spend time with your loved ones!

Note: If you want to save a copy of any of the photos, just right click with your mouse and save it to your computer; or, click on it and save the right size you want from Flickr... then do with it what you will normally do with photo files.