Well Christmas is officially over and not going to lie – I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation.  JP and I enjoyed 5 wonderful days with lots of family in three different states (count it – Ohio, Illinois and Indiana) and delivered tons of presents (and received tons back).  Thursday night we headed out to central Ohio to spend the weekend with her family. The 6 hour drive wasn’t bad except for the last 20 minutes when it was very icy and slick…but we made it safe and sound. It was also Ella’s first time on such a long road trip and although she was a little bit of a worry wart on the car ride – she did fine, except for annoying her big brother by trying to snuggle the entire car ride.

While in Ohio we hit up a winery and picked up our table wine (hello 7 cases) for our wedding. It was fun to get a chance to taste all the different offerings at Mon Amie Winery – delicious! We even were able to add an additional signature drink for our big day from an amazing concoction they had! We also picked up all the paper needed to DIY our invitations – I’m super excited to see how those turn out – as well as scored some pretty unique glassware for decorations. I’m a bit excited to see how things are pulling together – especially since we have a little over 6 months until the finish line.

During our time in Ohio, we had a fun Saturday night opening gifts with JP’s parents and sister, and we made out more than alright. I’m so thankful to be able to join such a loving and fun family! I received ZUMBA for Wii and I’m super excited to try that out and dance my way around our living room. I also got some awesome hats (I’m a winter hat freak), an adorable picture frame that JP’s sister made, with a tutorial here, a nice winter coat and some other super fun stuff!

Me with some of my loot! Check out Chance and Ella in the background – sneakers!

We also enjoyed some QT with JP’s grandma out in the country. It was fun to see her and her crazy dog Sandi – who thoroughly enjoyed her stuffed pig we got her for Christmas! But our 4 days in Ohio flew right on by and before we knew it, we were headed out the door in some icy weather back to Chicago to be able to make it to the other 2 family Christmas’ we had scheduled – my dad and my mom’s respective sides.

On Christmas day we stopped by my dad’s in the early afternoon to have dinner with him, my uncle and my grandma and to wrap presents. It was cool to spend some time with them, as they are always a barrel of laughs – especially my dad. Then we headed out to NW Indiana to join the chaos of my mother’s side of the family. My mom is 1 of 10 children – so we have a pretty huge showing at Christmas filled with a big tree and tons of presents. Plus my nephew is 3 years old now so Christmas is awesome because we get to shower him with gifts and see how excited he gets over everything!

The big tree with about half of the presents!

My mom got JP and I a deep fryer – which is awesome for this diet I am supposed to be on for the wedding (supposed is a great word). We also got a board/bags set from my aunt and uncle! AMAZING! Overall we didn’t do too bad – but now I’m ready for a vacation from our vacation. Anyone else pooped from the holiday?

Me and the “envelope” cousins with my aunt and uncle!

(There are basically two generations of cousins – the older ones that we refer to ourselves as the “envelopes” because we don’t really receive wrapped gifts anymore and are more apt to get envelopes. The young group which starts around the age of 14 are the “present” group because they still get lots of actual gifts! There’s a fine line of seniority here, people!)