Bethie's Buzz: Christmas, More Lost Teeth, Let It Snow, and Happy New Year!

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope you've had an amazing Christmas and New Year! We had an incredible visit to Rochester, NY to spend Christmas with Chirs' family. It was wonderfully relaxing - just the breath of air I needed after all of the fun and festivities of Advent. Chris' parents did an amazing job (as usual) hosting us. We had gourmet meals daily, cozy fires, and lots of games. The Christmas tree was loaded with gifts that made us all feel very special, but I think not having to meal plan or clean for almost a week was the best gift of all! Thanks again, Mom and Dad for a truly wonderful visit home! And another special thanks to Chris for getting us there and back safely.

Lots of time was spent visiting with family. Katie, Matt, Noah, Violet and Ellie came up for what may be their last Christmas in Rochester for a few years. They are expecting deployment to Germany this summer. And Megan came up from Greensboro, NC too. We also got to see Aunt Sandy, Kate and Cara which was a treat for us, but perhaps a highlight of the visit for the kids. Not to mention we got to visit with our wonderful grandparents, Grandma Grace, Papa Whistle and Grammie/GiGi.

We arrived to LOTS of snow in Rochester. The snow started falling as soon as we crossed into New York and I prayed constantly as we kept seeing cars that had drifted off the road and even a tractor trailer being towed out of a ditch. But thanks to Chris' great driving skills, we made it safe and sound!

Poppy asked the kids if they wanted to walk in the snow to church for Sunday Mass. I've never seen them so excited to go to church! (Who needs sidewalks when you have snow boots?!)

We had a quiet first few days with Megan, Mom, Dad, and visits from the Grandparents. The Bakers arrived on Christmas day evening.

Claire loves her Aunt Megan time!

Singing karaoke Christmas songs!

This year we went to Christmas morning Mass instead of Christmas Eve Mass. The Church was full, but MUCH less crowded! I nearly cried twice during the Mass, once when the priest talked about baptism and I realized that both of my babies were baptized in this church 4 and 6 years ago! And the second time was when I looked down the pew at my children who were behaving so beautifully. They are such good kids.

Awww...GiGi hugs are the best!

Will and Papa Whistle have a special connection. They enjoyed reading together before our Christmas dinner!

Yum! What a spread and what a beautiful table!

The four generations of Supple men!

Katie, Matt, and the kids arrived after spending a few days with Matt's family. We were all glad to see them!

The kids are in bed, "Let the bubble bread making begin!" This is a breakfast tradition for Christmas morning. It's always prepared with lots of playful teasing and complaining about the appropriate method for preparing the dish as well as the speed in which each participant moves in doing their task.

The next morning, Claire pops out her other front tooth...just before we head down the stairs to open presents! This prompts us all to sing, "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth!"

Our annual stair picture!

Violet and Claire got beautiful Asian dresses from their Mimi and Poppy's trip to South East Asia! Claire pairs her dress with her new pink roller skates from Santa!

Will and Noah were quick to start racing around with their new toys!

Will asked Santa for this Hot Wheels set and he had a ball playing with his cousins!

Claire was in heaven putting together Legos with her cousin Cara and Aunt Sandy!

Cara, Claire and Kate - Three sweet girls!

The kids loved all the fresh snow, Rochester had to offer! The only trick was trying to find a warm enough day to go out and play! Luckily it got up to 20 degrees one day and Poppy and Aunt Katie took the kids on a snow walk to the playground!

Scaling a monster snow plow pile!

Will and his buddy Ellie! They both share a love for eating snow.

(Many thanks to Katie for snapping these beautiful pictures of my children!)

Mimi guessed right, the kids were ready for hot cocoa when they got back!

What a fun time! We headed home on Thursday while snow continued to fall and again, Chris dazzled me with his driving skills! Almost as soon as we had the car unpacked, the kids started begging for their Christmas toys to be set up!

Mimi and Poppy got the kids a keyboard and they LOVE it! I especially love that they also got headphones, but with the recent purchase of a piano lesson book, the kids are already playing some nice tunes! They've even already hosted a recital or two.

Claire and Will are definitely rock hounds and my mom knows it! She added to their rock collection with UV rocks and the kids LOVE them!

For the past few years we have made a tradition of always calling our original Maryland friend crew together for a New Years dinner. We go for the early bird special since we have five kids between us!