We Are Family

I've got all my sisters with me...

A Christmas tradition, the annual Costello sibling's dinner. Hosted to perfection this year by Chris and Rebecca. Well done you two, we were treated to a mouth-watering feast. You make having a 6 week old and throwing a dinner party for 12 look like a cake walk.

Christmas Highlights 2011

Christmas this year was wonderful and busy and full of family activities as usual. It would be impossible (and frankly, boring) if I were to share all the many happenings of the past month, so I will spare you the details and skip right to my favorite parts...


Annual Costello Sibling's Christmas dinner, hosted to perfection by Sam and Jen this year

Getting the surprise of a lifetime when my parents flew my sister's family home from France for Christmas and they all showed up at my front door late at night and nearly gave me a heart-attack.

Getting to spend lots of time with these giggly girls who couldn't be closer if they were sisters...

and these wild boys who melt your heart as they pelt you with Nerf bullets

Watching the magic of Santa come alive for Eli this year and remembering him asking if we needed to leave cookies out for him or if Santa would just "help himself in our fridge"

Having our own special time on Christmas eve morning to watch the kids open their gifts and exchanging stockings with John

Spending Christmas eve day with the Costello crew where we enjoyed a delicious brunch and relaxing afternoon with our wonderful family

My parent's annual Christmas eve party and the beautiful dresses Grandma bought the girls

Boy's pull-up contest Christmas morning where my husband was crowned the champion and scored us a Cheesecake Factory gift card and night of babysitting courtesy of my parents

The chaos of 8 children opening gifts at the same time and not being sure where to look or focus

Spending time with the world's greatest, great-grandma who asked for a rocking chair for Christmas so she could rock all of her babies. Do you not just love her?

Papa Bob and part of his future baseball team who have no idea how lucky they are to have such an amazing Grandpa

A childhood story published into an actual children's book written by my mom (and worked on for months and months) as a special gift for my Grandpa

Watching this blue-eyed firecracker trying her best to keep up with all her cousins

The annual matching pajamas picture with all the Johnson kiddos and our newest addition this year, baby Harry!

"Fishing for dollars" competition in the hot-tub where each fish was worth a different dollar amount

 Passing around baby Harry for some much needed newborn snuggle time

And though quiet moments have been few in the past week, when I take a second to reflect on my Savior,  my family, and my blessings, I am nothing but overwhelmed with gratefulness. This Christmas was truly a special one filled with everyone that I love in one place and lots of memories that will leave me smiling long after the tree comes down.

 "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore." 

Isaiah 9:6-7

Happy Birthday Harry

Meet my brand-new nephew, Harrison "Harry" *James* Mitchell. Weighing in at 7lbs 1 oz with a headful of fuzzy brown hair, this little guy is a keeper. I am already absolutely in love with him. Congratulations on baby #4 Kim and Kevin. Well done on your grand finale, he couldn't be any cuter.

*This post has been edited to reflect the correct middle name. I mistakenly jumped the gun in posting what I thought was the final choice when the jury was still deciding. Oopsy!

A Week in France

 I think I have finally gotten hold of my jet-lag enough to write this post .....

Last week my sister Kim and I traveled to France for a once-in-a-lifetime sister's trip abroad. Our other sister Sarah is stationed in the city of Toulon for 3 years while her husband works with the French Navy in an exchange program. We left our 5 children at home with their Grandparents and Great-Grandparents and boarded the plane footloose and fancy-free. Now an 8 hour plane ride might seem like a drag to most people, but to us, it was a luxurious 8 hours of peace & quiet, snoozing, and getting to eat several delicious palatable in-flight meals without anyone whining or stealing the dessert. They even give you free wine on international flights, which just made me feel extra special.

We spent 5 days touring around the coastal area where Sarah lives and enjoyed the  fabulous markets, the bakeries, and the beautiful Mediterranean sea. We took a challenging bike ride on an island that I will never remember the name of and had a picnic on the beach. I tried as many kinds of pastries as was socially acceptable and we enjoyed a pace of life that was slow and easy.  I loved getting to spend time with my niece and nephew and hear Lily speak in her perfectly fluent French. Did I mention how beautiful it is there? There are breathtaking views of the mountains and an ocean so blue it looks fake. 

For our last 3 days we hopped on a train and headed to Paris which is a 4 hour ride from Toulon. I always pictured Paris being the size of New York City so I was overwhelmed at how enormous the city is. We tried walking it and then decided halfway through day 1 that we'd be a lot smarter by purchasing hop-on hop-off tour bus tickets. It was a good decision. We went all over and saw lots of cool things. My favorites were the Notre Dame, The Eiffel Tower at night, Champs Elysses, and the Louvre (although we didn't actually go inside any of the museums, but it was massive and impressive from the outside). I was shocked by how expensive everything was and had to make multiple trips to the ATM as my money kept running out. I loved eating meals at little sidewalk cafes and people watching all the trendy Parisians who made my regret all of my clothing choices. The architecture is amazing and the old history of the city fascinating, but the best part of Paris was just having uninterrupted quality time with my sisters. We didn't have much of an agenda and we didn't have kids, and we just got to enjoy being together. There were lots of laughs and great memories made and that's what made the trip so fun. You should definitely go to Paris sometime if you get the chance. Its just an 8 hour plane ride away :)

Here are some memories of our time...

Gourmet olives for sale at the local market in Toulon

                                                   
Dessert? Yes please! A selection of treats from the bakery

Shopping at a market in the cute town of Hyeres

Phil came home! Enjoying some French ice-cream

Look how beautiful this place is? This is that island we biked on

Our picnic on the beach

Getting ready to board the train for Paris

The Notre Dame

This chocolate mouse was the BEST, creamiest most delicious I've ever tasted

Our double-decker tour bus that saved our feet and gave us a great view of the city

The Hotel De Invalides and Napoleons tomb

Delicious dinner at a cafe by the Eiffel Tower

Sunset at the Eiffel tower just before we headed up to the top

The Arc De Triomphe

"The Thinker" statue by artist Rodin

Touring the beautiful gardens at the Rodin Museum

 I loved these adorable flower shops that lined the streets in Paris

Yes, even Starbucks is big in Paris. We were thankful for their kind customer service and lovely bathrooms

The Louvre Museum, its just massive

We searched over an hour for this little Fallafel restaurant that supposedly had the best Fallafels around. It was worth it, they were so yummy.                                            

On our last night we went to the base of the Eiffle tower to get a fresh crepe and  watch the tower "sparkle" with thousands of glittering lights, which it does for the first 5 minutes of every hour.

Mmmm good!

This picture does not even almost capture the sparkling, but its the best I could get.

And a big thank you to my wonderful husband for managing work and the getting the kids where they needed to be every day while I was gone. You are the best! And thanks mom and dad and my sister-in-laws for watching and loving on my babies during the day. I owe you all big time!