It was a little early to celebrate Christmas, however, the weekend of December 14th, was our best shot to get everyone together. This also gave Andrew, Erica, Clint and Michelle a chance to visit their other families for the holidays.
The wait staff took this group picture of the table!

We decided to eat out as a large group rather than do a pot-luck dinner and chose Russo's Italian Grill at the Rim. I mean, really, how can you beat a pizza and pasta place! Right! The food was great. We started with a couple of large pizzas as appetizers for the table and then topped it off with a variety of pasta dishes! They had a large variety of wines and beers but unfortunately, no full bar service with cocktails! That's ok. We toasted with Diet Coke!

Shown above are Clint's calzone, a slice of Italian pizza and baked Zitis.

We had a great time enjoying the cuisine and reconnecting old bonds! It was a real pleasure having Clint and Andrew present since they don't always have a chance to make family gatherings due to their job schedules!
Note Sienna in the middle picture below. The girl is growing fast. It seems like she was just born yesterday!

Outside the restaurant, there was a "Present Box" that was all lit up with decorative Christmas spirit. It was perfect to take some family pictures after the meal.

Then it was time to head to the house for some family time and to open Christmas presents.

(Notice the two elves, Sophia & Stella, to the right, helping Santa that day!)

Of course, the kids were spoiled with too many presents! That's OK, though. It's what Christmas is all about... the kids creating memories!

The first picture shows Sienna thinking she's got a real delicious hamburger! Oh, well. The group picture on the right was taken by me. It has Sylvia in it. Unfortunately, Andrew was putting stuff in the car and missed the photo opportunity.

And so we had to take another one of the whole family including all of my Grandchildren. Sylvia took this last picture so that I could be in it. These moments are more and more special as time marches on!

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