Things that made me smile: Part One

Our holidays are never mundane. We open gifts at least five times over the holidays usually with a variety of people. Today we returned from our trip to Ohio and New York where we visited with our families. Exhausted, I am daunted by the idea of summarizing our 11 days away from home. So, I am planning to just show some pictures of the various things that made me smile over the holidays.

1. My dad: Last year dad had a double knee replacement, but he felt it prudent this year to lay on the floor and wrestle my boys, egging them on!

Someone always has to have the goofy "look what I got" picture. My dad is the perfect candidate, proudly boasting his new exercise gear!

2. My boys: The excitement exuding from them was tangible this year. Brendan could barely contain himself, and I loved watching all their enthusiasm.

3. Christmas at my Uncle Tom's: It has long been a tradition for the Titus side of the family to gather with cousins and babies and all. Recently, we began going to my Uncle Tom's home, and he has the utopian OSU basement complete with Buckeye gear on every wall. He also has a Wii that the kids loved this year and a vintage popcorn popper. Here is my mom, Noah, and Katherine enjoying themselves.
This is also a Titus tradition, stemming from my childhood days when we would all sit on the stairs at my Grandpa's house while our family would take pictures. Now, we are doing the same for our kids.
4. My Grandma Dilley: I don't get to see her enough, so just spending time with Gram this Christmas made me smile!
5. My mom: When I talk about going home, I always mention how much I miss my mom. I love going home and watching her get some special time with the boys. Here, mom and Evan were making traditional holiday cookies. (Ev even convinced her to make some shamrocks!)
6. My family: Our family continues to grow. This picture shows all the grandkids for mom and dad now. This is enough to make anyone smile!

Family games are another superb tradition for us. Mom, Tim, and Anita were concentrating on one of many new games.

Jeff, Emily, and my beautiful new niece McCamey posed for a once-in-a-lifetime photo of all three family members adorning Brady Quinn jerseys. Em is a die-hard Steeler fan, so putting on the jersey required a bit of moral compromise for her. Don't they look awesome?
7. Noah also made me smile. I am sure that he thought he was as old as the "big boys" all weekend long. He made Tif and David work to get him to sleep. I snapped this picture on a day where no tactics that Tif and David tried would coerce him to rest at all. This picture was nearing the end of his tolerance. What a cutie!

I am only halfway done! I will detail the second half of our trip in the next blog!