December Fun

Wow! I can't even believe how quickly this last month has flown by! December is always insanely busy, but it seems even more so when you are traveling 6,000+ miles to celebrate the holidays. And while we were disappointed to not be able to go home until December 22nd, in some ways it was actually nice to be in Dubai so close to Christmas because we got to see everything in full swing here (whereas last year, a lot of the decorations were not up yet and/or finished by the time we left on December 17th). We tried to make the most of our extra time before Christmas here, and I was even able to convince Jared to go ice skating with me at the Dubai Mall Ice Rink. Nothing gets me in the winter/holiday spirit more than ice skating...

Jared appeasing me by posing for a photo.

Jared fleeing from my attempts to take pictures of him on the ice.

And our time at home was absolutely wonderful as ever. Not nearly as cold as last year, with no mishaps (at least nothing of the scale of a blizzard rental car accident with a snow plow... Jared did lose his blackberry in a taxi on our first night home but it was returned to him by the oh so kind driver within 24 hours). We were even lucky enough to have a white Christmas in both MA (which never happens) and NY (which always happens), but without having to do any bad weather driving. We were able to catch up with [almost] everyone (family and friends) we wanted to, and all-in-all had a great trip! I do have to be honest though... With all the running around we do while we're home, I wasn't entirely sad to be heading back to the sandbox after a whirlwind 10 days.

I didn't take many pictures while I was home this year, but I thought I'd share my favorites....

I took the little cousins and my little sister Valerie sledding in Wellesley after Christmas (it was absolutely perfect sledding/snowball making weather!) and we had a great time!

New Years Eve we went out in Boston... The city throws a big celebration called "First Night" with parades, fireworks, and ice sculptures throughout the city and this year was the 35th Anniversary (apparently). It was a fun night which included watching the early 'family' fireworks show from our friend's roof-deck while sipping champagne, and ended with a bar fight as the open bar event we were at was ending. Nothing like starting out the new year with a bar fight. I'm sure 2011 will be a fantastic year!