Wygilia

Kevin's family celebrates Wygilia which is the traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner.  Throughout the years we have changed the day to accommodate travel plans.  This is Polish soul food at its best!  We love beginning the Christmas festivities with this day.  The evening begins with an appetizer of Pickled Herring and Pumpernickel bread. Before dinner we wish each other Merry Christmas by the breaking of a wafer called Opatek.  Dinner consists of the following:

 Fish

Homemade Perogis, by Mary

 

Sweet Bread, by Tom and Katie

Mushrooms

Baked Potatoes

Of course, Prunes every ones favorite (or forced to eat by Mary)

Yum!  Did I mention the Sour Kraut and white beans?

Cookies, by Pam

Unbelievably, this is only a small part of Kevin's family.  It is unfortunate that we can't get everyone together every year but Kevin has siblings spread out over the entire country.  We segment it by areas, West Coast, Northwest, Northeast and the South.  Yes, there are that many families because Kevin has 10 siblings.  Most of the families carry on the tradition every year.  What a blessing to be able to gather together.

 Tom & Michaely

Kevin & Me

 

Pat & Keri

Mary, Chris and Ron

Garrett and Justin

Dylan

Morgan and Jen

Katie and Chino

My good looking kids

They don't even look like brothers do they?

 The Whole Gang (West Coast)

Tree Trimming

The kids went with Kevin to go and pick out our tree for Christmas.  Morgan spotted the "tree" this year.  Kevin was leaving out of town on business so we we had him put the tree topper on before he left.  The kids had a great time decorating all by themselves.  I enjoy being able to watch them and take the pictures.  They are actually quite good at it.

Happy Anniversary!

Kevin here.  This post goes out to my honey on our seventeenth wedding anniversary.  We are apart while I am in Hawaii on business and I just want the whole world to know how much I love you and miss you!  Hawaii is supposed to be where you go for honeymoons and anniversaries, not business.  I am so grateful to have a beautiful and loving wife who understands the times and what you sometimes have to do to stay employed.

Seventeen years ago, in a little church office surrounded by close family and a few friends, Pam and I said "I do".  For better or worse, with God at the center of our marriage, my love for her grows deeper each year.  She is my great treasure, my joy and the love of my life!  That being said, honey, this is for you:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knp9-GY6fHE

Annual Christmas Disneyland Trip

This was one of our most fun trips to Disneyland in a long time!  We started out at 9:00am and even got tickets to the World of Color.  The first show was a 9:00pm.  Our goal was to stay to see the show.  At about 7:00pm Kevin and I looked at each other and said how are we ever going to make it?!  Even Garrett was done.  Morgan and Justin could barely hold their eyes opened but continued to insist that we stay.  Kevin came up with a good bribe to get us home earlier.  He bought the kids ice cream!  Just the thing kids need before they go to sleep!  LOL!  Needless to say, they were all wide awake when we got home at 9:00pm.  It didn't take long for everyone to fall asleep once their heads hit the pillows.  One day we will go on a day when the park closes earlier and the show will be sooner than 9:00pm!  I have heard World of Color is really good.  I will admit it, I am not that much fun after 8:00pm.  :(

San Diego Zoo

After Thanksgiving, my sister Ronnette took the kids for a sleepover and a day at the San Diego zoo.  The kids always love hanging out with Aunt Ronnie.  All of them were worn out when they got back.  I was grateful for the time off after Thanksgiving. 

Thanksgiving

You can definately tell I was busy, busy this Thanksgiving.  I only got a total of eight pictures of the day!  It was a really fun time and the food was great!  We enjoyed some new recipes this year.  The kids all disappeared with their cousins until time to eat.  This is my reason why they aren't in the pictures!  I think they rode off on scotters, bikes and skateboards to go play football, tag and hide and go seek.  They have so much fun when they all get together.

Kevin with his mouth watering turkey!