We went to Mass at St. Mary's at 4pm on Christmas Eve, where Malena and Marco sang Christmas carols at the top of their lungs. Malena's favorite is "Angels We Have Heard on High", particularly the Andrea Bocelli version. Speaking of Andrea Bocelli, Nonna, my brother Rick and I went to see him in concert in early December as part of an early Christmas gift to Nonna. We had dinner in the North End, cannolis at Mike's Pastry, then heard one of the most beautiful voices on the planet. If you haven't seen Andrea Bocelli live in concert, you need to go.
The Lombardo familiglia got together on Christmas Eve as we usually do and celebrated with our favorite Festa di Sette Pesci (The Feast of the Seven Fish)-- an Italian tradition in our home. This year, all the daughter-in-laws helped Nonna out by making some of the fish. Clams, calamri, schrod, smelts, shrimp, and several others were on tap. Ricotta pie, biscottis, and numerous other desserts topped it all off. Lots of gift giving, conversation and just good family times kept us late into the evening.
Christmas morning was special for Marco and Malena-- it's so awesome to see the smiles on their faces when they open up their gifts. It truly is one of the things that makes the holiday so special. Marco somehow figured out what Transformers were and decided he needed to have one (or five). All Malena wanted was a Princess doll (and she got five), and a talking book. We're enjoying the simplicity of their gifts while it lasts!
Christmas Day was spent with Leslie's family, including a visit to her great grandmother who is 101 years old. We feel blessed to have had spent time with her on her second Christmas in her second century. The Mudgett family Christmas swap went off with it's usual great fun, but this year without any of the usual complicated (and hysterical) rules-- Leslie's dad forgot to bring them along (we forgot to remind him that was his main responsibility for the year!). I ended up with my own gift, as did Tim and Erica. Leslie set a new low by giving the "worst gift ever"-- a cake mix, frosting, sprinkles and a terrible DVD of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood. Diane feels extremely relieved and grateful-- her gnome of a few years ago is no longer the low bar.
We feel extremely blessed to have two great children and a wonderful family. Christmas for us is about faith, family and friends and we had a great one this year! We'd love to hear from you-- how was your Christmas?
