So, we ended up spending our Saturday afternoon in "The Christmas City" of Bethlehem, PA. It's funny... we went because since the first week of December we have been listening to Christmas music on our TV & you know how they always have pieces of trivia on the bottom of the screen when they play a song? Well, Garrick saw that Bethlehem, PA is known as "The Christmas City", so of course Garrick started researching it & said "it's only 80 miles from here... we should go check it out". So, we did.

We took a beautiful drive through the rural west part of New Jersey (while big snow flakes fell on our car), across the Delaware Gap & into Easton, PA. From there, it wasn't too far. We knew we were getting close when off of Highway 22, we saw "Nazareth Lane". Hahaha!! Anyway, the town had tons of beautiful old buildings, churches & pretty steeples. PA seems like a really nice state to live in. It was just how I had envisioned; all-American, blue-collar lifestyle.

So, Pennsylvania brings Baylee's state count to FOUR (pretty good for a less than 3-month old!) :) It's a catch-up state for her because Garrick, Aubree, Preston & I have already visited PA four times prior to this trip.

So, we went after lunch because we wanted to look at the lights that night. We ended up eating dinner at a really yummy brewery... where the kids ate (what do you think??) HOT DOGS w/ French Fries (their new fav). We bought homemade chocolates & candies (which mysteriously disappeared by the time we got home... I live with a bunch of sugar-junkies), looked at all the Nativity Scenes, ornaments & Christmas Decorations. We more or less, just browsed the town... and walked a lot. It was freezing (I guess this is the new norm & doesn't need to be said anymore... hahahaha!! It's just been a challenge getting used to!)

Preston & Baylee slept the whole way there & back... so, it was pretty relaxing!

Oh my gosh!! I can't believe Christmas is this week!!! Garrick & I are soooooo excited! This is our first Christmas AT HOME! Which is kind of nice because we have three kids now & it's fun to get a shot at giving our kids their first Christmas at home, although we will certainly be missing our family. Anyway, I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep on Christmas Eve night!! I can't wait!!!

Some pics of our Saturday in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania...

(Raheleh... If you're on here, this is that Pea Coat you got for Aubree last Christmas. WE LOVE IT! Thank you! :))

 Aubree should be a model, she's always ready to make a pose! :)

(all the while Garrick is thinking, "ok, did you get your picture?? Let's go see the town!") :)

 Daddy's Babies

(I love this bridge... can you tell?!?!)

 So many bridal parties taking advantage of all these beautiful locations...

 Hotel Bethlehem...

 Aubree sees Santa Clause, doesn't get too excited & then asks me...

"But Mom... Is that the REAL one???" Oh boy... This kid is a tough sell! I don't think she's ever believed in Santa Clause... Or this Easter Bunny character! I don't even try to convince her of it anymore... Miss Skeptical should be her second name! Hahaha... :)

(By the way, the NE could ease up on the number of Santa Clauses they have running around! Never in my life, have I seen 8+ Santa Clauses in one 1/2 day!) ;)

 A house that made your eyes hurt while driving home... In Lincoln Park, NJ



Not this past weekend, but the weekend before we went to Manhattan, did some window shopping, looked at all the Christmas decorations... Ate at Dean & Deluca, checked out the tree, watched the ice skaters, drank hot cocoa & visited with my Uncle Jim (Mom's brother), Aunt Tiffany & little cousin, Alexia. My Uncle Yimmy is so cute! Us girls have always just adored him! He's funny & soooo fun! He always made our family holidays so exciting, so of course I was beyond thrilled to spend time with him, Aunt Tiffany & sweet little Lex! :)

It was freezing cold this day!! But we're definitely learning the ropes of this cold northeast thing! We bundle up a lot, but... we still haven't mastered this whole system (like, we could have used some mittens!!). It's funny, we saw the tree last year, right before it was "officially" lit & at that point, I had NO idea we would be seeing it the following year... It's funny how things work out! This year Aubree saw it, last year she fell asleep & didn't get to see it while we were there!

 Preston obviously cares more about drinking his hot chocolate, than looking at the tree! :)

 All the photogs...

 My family...

... Thy leaves are so unchanging! ;)

Ok, so this was two weekends ago - the continuation of our Connecticut day. I've noticed whenever I write something along the lines of "more to come..", I just end up jinxing myself because I end up getting so busy! I feel like there, is literally not enough time in one day to do it all!

Last weekend we were in Manhattan... We went to 5th Ave., Rockefeller Center & most importantly to SEE my Uncle, Aunt & Cousin! I was over the top, excited! I hadn't seen them in almost 2 years! I needed a little bit of family & of course I was more than thrilled for someone on MY side of the family to finally meet Baylee!

Ok, so hopefully - I find time to do those pictures! This weekend "the plan" is to head west to Bethlehem, PA for our last festive Christmas weekend... So, we'll see! I'm excited to check out a new city.

So, here are the kids busy decorating. Aubree was so productive & helpful... Preston on the other hand attempted to help, but he was still a little confused as to WHY we were doing all the things we were doing. But, we drank Sparkling Cider, Egg Nog, ate cookies, candies & listened to Christmas music.

After the tree was completely decorated, the kids got a quick bath & then Garrick, Aubree & Preston slept under the lit tree.... A family tradition. I was lucky that I didn't have to do it, Baylee & I stayed in my room. It's, obviously NOT comfortable to sleep on a wooden floor... I remember last year being horrible! I could hardly sleep, but Garrick woke up well rested & you know why??? He snuck extra cushioning under himself! I couldn't believe that! Anyway, the kids LOVED the slumber party & they all seemed to sleep well, on the 6, or so comforters under them! :)

Aubs, doing the honors...

 I'm really liking our ornament collection, it grows every year...

 That's a picture of Aubree as a newborn... We hung that on our tree on her first Christmas in 2007

(I think it was a gift tag)

 My fav ornament... that I actually broke that night!!! :( But, ended up fixing it it.

 ^ ME^     :)                   

 And the slumber party... And, now off to bed for me too!! :)

So, we took about an 85 mile drive north up to Shelton, CT to get our Christmas Tree. Personally, I'm at a point where I'm totally ok with getting a fake Christmas Tree. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing like a real tree... It's just kind of sad, cutting down all these trees every year!! I don't know, that's just what I'm feeling right now. However, because the whole Christmas Tree thing is a big experience for Garrick, oh boy... he takes it very seriously, I doubt my fake tree will ever fly anytime soon! Maybe I'll have to wait until he enters his mid-life crisis & I'm in charge of this tree thing (just kidding! I doubt that happens too). :)

So, this is our 5th year getting a tree together now... And, I think the 5th tree that I have NOT chosen!! I guess you gotta pick & choose your battles & picking a tree is not a battle I'm going to prioritize. Garrick & I just have different ideas of what type of trees we like... And with a variety of 6 different types of trees & thousands to choose from, you better bet we looked at hundreds of trees! Covered a whole side of a mountain... But, FINALLY (2 hours later... haha!!!), we found THE ONE!

We did have fun though, we were definitely on an adventure with the three kids. The Jones Christmas Tree farm was by far the best Christmas Tree farm I have ever been to!! It's an experience... and everyone was so festive & nice! There is something really refreshing when you can go to a happy place like this & hear people belt out a nice, hardy, "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" Throw out the "politically correct 'Happy Holidays'", we're on a CHRISTMAS tree farm after all. :)

After the tree hunt & Garrick making sure the tree was successfully fastened to the car, we headed down to the tree village where we sampled some of their wine (it's a vineyard too), and ate Trail Mix cookies with hot apple cider. After that we went to a nice little town (I'm unsure of the name), but we went to this great restaurant where we had a Lobster Roll, Fish & Chips and a hot dog for the kids - the food was great!

We got home kind of late, but finished off the day by decorating our tree! More pics of that to come later...

Oh yeah & Connecticut now brings our states-visited totals to...

Garrick - 26 states

Dana - 25 states

Aubree - 20 states

Preston - 14 states

Baylee - 3 states

Garrick's a Mountain man! ;)

I like how Garrick is looking at this tree like it's in contention to be chosen... 'Oh yes, let's take this one for our other house... the mansion with the 25-foot ceilings' hahaha... :)

Preston decided to take a little rest... ^

The search for the "perfect" tree continues...

The kids & I took a break while Garrick continued the search...

And... finally! There she is.... :)

Aubs was scared that the tree would fall on us!!!

Very interesting... Preston looks like he got in a brawl. He fell quite a few times & a couple times right on his cute little face! :(

My boys.

Hey Frosty!!!

By the way, CT was GORGEOUS!!! We have a friend, Eli who is from CT, I'm happy we got a chance to visit his home state. We're going to go back to Norwalk to visit their aquarium... Preston LOVES sharks!!! :)