Our first Christmas

(our wee little tree and stockings we made the first Christmas we were married)

Joel and I have been married for 3 1/2 years, and just this year had our first Christmas together.  It was grand!  We decided to stay home this year, not traveling, not flying, not getting stuck in a snow storm, not moving around from house to house, just the two of us and our china.  
We made a lovely traditional* dinner on Christmas Eve, had a special breakfast Christmas morning, and used our china almost the whole week for all of our meals.  We had a great time relaxing together, watching movies, cooking, shopping, spending time with friends and family, Joel put together a new kitchen table and chairs, and I got to play the accordion for the first time!
*the dinner is a meal my Grandaddy always made throughout the year and something we have made into a tradition at my Dad's for 15+ years on Christmas Eve. -- Steak marinated for 2 days and Gumbo! NUM NUM!

Searing the Teriyaki

 Grouchy Gumbo! (ground sirloin, veggies, and tomatoes)

The finished product! (seats up to 10 people! - bonus: our NYC apt has a dining room, a rare treat in NYC)

We also went up to CT to see my 'family' for a couple of days.  I have some close friends that I grew up with in IL and most of the family was in CT for Christmas. Joel and I were able to go up and spend time with all of them. (unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the adults).

Uncle Calvin with 5 of the 7 grandkids

The other 2 of the 7 grandkids

While we were in CT, the snow storm hit the Northeast and we came back to this:

YAY!! SNOW!!!  :)

The past 2 years, our Christmas plans we re-routed due to snow storms and we sure were glad we didn't have to deal with that this year! instead, we got to play in it!

It was a great Christmas and New Years and for any married couple out there, I would HIGHLY recommend doing this. It's good for the relationship, and the bank account.

I will now leave you with this:

(my first weak attempt on the accordion playing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" on Christmas Day).