Christmas in Buffalo

For Christmas, we were invited to spend the holidays with Jen's family in Buffalo, NY. We were both missing a little bit of the East coast and certainly were excited about a white Christmas. We even managed to bring the dog along! I suppose we could be mistaken for that nutty couple that can't ever be apart from the dog, but she truly is a part of the family in the sense that she is spoiled by the grandparents and can't get enough of the snow. 

The boys got out of the house for a little bit...

while the ladies made about 300 christmas cookies to give out to friends and family. 

Christmas Eve was celebrated with a dinner of immediate family. 

A beautiful Christmas tree that was soon only partially visible with the enormous amount of presents soon to come. 

Ariana's (Jen's niece) first Christmas made it extra special

We found a couple of time capsules at Grandma's house (circa 1993?)

Little Jen who dressed her uncle Jim up nicely 

During the festivities, we made a break to hang out with some of Jen's old high school friends. A lovely bunch and everyone was in fantastic spirits, despite the fact we had about 3 feet of snowfall happening just outside.

Kim, Carly, Tiffany, Jen and Jillian.

There were plenty of hor d'oeuvres and a lively competition of Michael Jackson dancing for the Wii.

One of Grandpa Klimas and Ariana's favorite activities is to take a sled ride around the house via laundry basket, belt and a few stuffed travel companions.

Christmas was commemorated with a long awaited Baptism for little Ariana. Jen and close family friend Giovanni were the honorary Godparents. It was a beautiful Sunday ceremony, followed by a wonderful lunch at the local country club.

4 Generations of DeMonte/Klimas women

The Official Granddaughter 

The Unofficial Granddaughter

While the winter wonderland brought about 3 feet of snow, the city of Buffalo can clean up the roads and driveways quite quickly. Areas that don't get cleaned up are the parks and fields nearby, which proved to be the perfect playground for our little snow lover. Louloudi turns into a little hornless elk as she bounds from drift to drift, barely slowing as she launches through the trees and surrounding homes. She is a truly an athletic prodigy, running breathlessly while only stopping to quench her thirst by munching on snow from time to time. Who would have thought that a little beach dog would be so excited by subzero conditions.

It was a wonderful Christmas in all and we could barely pack our bags with all the generous gifts to take home. Thanks so much to all who made it a wonderful, tasty and giving white Christmas.