Halloween 2007

Our little monkey had a great time going "trick or treating". We went down to Whitestone and had a blast. It was a great day, weather-wise and the whole neighborhood was out. There were so many kids (and grown ups) in costume. Alessio took in a nice haul. Of course, I took some of my favorite candies with me to Basel.

Epiphany

We grew up with a nice tradition of getting a gift on the befana. So Alessio got to bask in the thrill of opening one more present. Gabby and Richie hosted an Epiphany party at their house. Another day of eating and drinking. And a beautiful day it was. I don't know what is going on with nature but we should not have 70 degree weather in January. Unfortunately, Deanna had to work. In addition to missing her company we also missed her photo skills so I just have this picture from the morning.

Name Day

Some of you may know December 26th as Boxing day but it has always been St. Steven's day to me. Growing up it would mean an extra gift. Bonus! But now it is not about the gifts but just another reason to have a good time. This year my mom had to work both Christmas eve and day but she was off on December 26th. So much to Gabby's disappointment she had to make the long arduous trip back across the bridge to Westchester. We had a good time but as always the queens clan had to leave early for a variety of reasons.

Christmas Day

Christmas day

Well Christmas day came and fortunately Alessio woke us at a reasonable hour (8:30). We [metaphorically] ran down the stairs and saw all the presents under the tree. Alessio still is not into Christmas. He unwrapped 4 gifts, tried to re-wrap 1 and then took off to watch 'Sesame Street'. Here is a short clip. Deanna and I opened the rest of the gifts and had a relaxing morning even though 16 people were coming for dinner. We prepared a lot of stuff before hand. Deanna set a really nice table. And the menu was fairly easy. Everyone had a good time. There was a little bit of organized chaos when we exchanged gifts with our 'Secret Santa' and you had to watch out for the children's conga line but that is what makes the holidays special.

Click on the picture of Alessio above to seem some more pictures from christmas.

Christmas Eve

We went down to the motherland (Queens) for Christmas Eve. Gabby and Rich put out a really nice spread. Alessio had a really good time running around with the kids. He took a couple of spills on the two steps to the family room but lucckily they still bounce at this age.

Of course Deanna took some pictures ...

Christmas eve

O Christmas Tree

We decided to put up a fake tree this year because we did not know how Alessio was going to react. Which means, will he pull it down or eat the needles? So far he has not been too interested in it.

What we did not expect, was that Deanna would be taller than the tree! It it just a temporary tree. We borrowed it from Sandie. I like it, but Deanna calls it our 'Charlie Brown' Christmas tree.

Click Here to see our collection of ornaments from around the world.