life according to the diaz's: Merry Christmas!

Well, another Christmas has come and gone for us all, but what a fabulous Christmas season it has been. I always feel so excited on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but once Christmas Day is over, I can't help but feel a little sad! All the hustle and bustle of the best time of the year is over and it's time to move on with the new year! While wonderful to start over again, it's always hard to see the best days of the year come and go in a flash. We had a wonderful Christmas this year. It all started on Sunday with my nephew's (baby Blake's) baptism at the Cathedral Basilica in St. Louis. We had a private baptism at one of the most beautiful churches. It was decorated for Christmas and was simply stunning. It was a perfect place to welcome Blake into the Catholic Church. After that we were able to enjoy a party and eat the most delicious pizza in St. Louis, Saullo's. They will be closing their doors on December 29th, so if you are in St. Louis and need a place to get some pizza, GO THERE. They have been family friends for many, many years and you will NOT be disappointed. I could go for a slice...or better yet, a whole pizza, right about now!! After eating WAY too much pizza after the baptism, we headed home to enjoy a good night's sleep and get ready for the Keeven Christmas on the 23rd. It was a great day surrounded by the family, eating lots of great food...again...and opening presents. Being together is always the BEST present of all, and it truly hit home this year since more and more of our families are far away. It was truly a Christmas blessing to see everyone from STL to KC to Florida...we all made it back together for awhile. After a beautiful early Christmas in STL, we headed home to enjoy a quiet Christmas Eve together here at home. Juan and I put Elena to bed...a little later than usual...and then we helped Santa put a few presents under the tree. It was a magical evening for us as this was our first Christmas knowing Elena would wake up the next day and understand that "Kwa Kwas" came with presents. We had so much fun. Elena woke up on Christmas Day and opened up some of her new gifts including a Dora bike, golf clubs, and a new cash register, which has definitely been her favorite so far. We enjoyed delicious cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then headed to abuelo and abuela's house for the afternoon. We ate a delicious dinner and opened lots of presents together. It was a blast. So, here we are the day after Christmas with not many things to return to the stores, which is always a great thing because I honestly don't like shopping at all...I do not like wasting time standing in lines, I like to just go, get what we need, and get out!! Ha...We'll make it out in the next few days to return what we need, but for the time being, we are just enjoying putting the house back together after an awesome Christmas, opening all of our new toys, and just being at home. Juan and I are looking forward to a few more days off school to re-energize and get ready for second semester. We wish everyone a blessed new year!!