Winter Break | Family Party at Suzanne's

We haven't been able to make it to upstate NY for our family Christmas party since my Grandmother moved down to VA a few years ago. This year, however, we made it a priority to go and catch up with our cousins from Lockport and Rochester.

This is the Cafarelli side of the family, made up of my grandma, her four sisters and their descendants. Here is a nice shot of the remaining sisters: Connie, Irma and Antoinette.



The family party rotates homes each Christmas and this year, Suzanne hosted. We were all asked to come dressed in our Christmas PJs and bring an ornament to exchange. There was PLENTY of wonderful food, wine and sweets. As a special treat for the kids, Suzanne (inspired by Paula Deen), helped each of them make mini-pies...cherry, apple and chapple (a cherry, apple mix). :-)




It's always been a tradition for Santa to pay a visit to the younger kids after dinner and this year was no different. Over time, pretty much all the men in the family have worn the red suit and beard and one point, and Heath's moment to shine finally came. With the fat pouch, suit, beard, glasses and appropriate makeup, even my grandma didn't recognize him. We are pretty sure that Violet knew it was him. His "ho, ho, hos" were very authentic and the family agreed that he did a wonderful job.







More pictures!