Kicking off the holiday season!

What I love most about the holidays down here is the build up to Christmas! There are so many Christmas-y events going on to really get you in the spirit. Nico has been singing Christmas carols around the house to himself and watching all of the classic holiday movies like Rudolph, Frosty the Snowman, and Home Alone. He's wired! It's so fun to live this time of year through his eyes.

The first of many events was in Bee Cave just after Thanksgiving. We went to their tree lighting to welcome Santa and also caught a free concert by Plain White Tees.

Nico danced around at the concert, got a flashing light saber, and ate frozen yogurt. To be four again.

 

We got the Christmas stuff up quickly this year so that we would have all month to enjoy it! Nico helped with eeeeeevery step. If only we could all have his enthusiasm toward helping (and life in general!) We only had 1 casualty, and it was a cheap Walmart bulb.

 



All it's missing is a tree topper!

Nico figured out his list in time to send to Santa too. He has high hopes of getting all of this! Spoiled much?!

Reindeer snacks with grandma and grandpa.

Our neighbors gave us tickets to a play, Peter and the Wolf. Totally out of our element to go to a PLAY! But, it kept Nico's attention and made for a fun little afternoon! He was out of proportionately excited to wear his new jeans and belt today.

Here's our second annual tradition of drinks at the Driskell with my parents after a nice dinner out at Roaring Fork.

Love this pic of our little family. This one became our Christmas card this year.

The Zilker Trail of Lights keeps getting better and better every year! There seemed to be more lights, things to look at, and activities. Still one of my favorite Austin traditions.

 

Ryan and the future Jessica Elson: wedding shower

We went down to Houston for the first of many celebrations for the upcoming wedding!! The joke hasn't gotten old (yet) about adding another Jessica Elson to the family. I'm so happy for my little brother, and I couldn't think of anyone better to have my old name than JHam!

 

We got to meet a lot of her side of the family, Nico stayed entertained with a few older kids, and there was a fire pit with smores. Really fun party!

Retirement, take 2

Just a shout out to my dad for Round 2 of retirement! We all went up to Freescale today to join in on the festivities for its last day of existence. Plenty of food, live music, and some speeches. So proud of my dad for being such a huge part of the company's success. Couldn't help but get teary eyed (yes, I'm a sap on the inside) over the kind words that others had to say about him and the general  overwhelming feeling of gratitude from so many.

My chefs

It's not uncommon for David to decide to whip up a fancy meal (or at least what I consider a fancy meal) at the last minute. At 5 pm tonight, "Nico, let's make gnocchi!" How did I get so lucky?

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had another great Thanksgiving with many things to be thankful for again this year! We hosted at our house and had our parents over. All week, Nico proudly kept talking about how he was going to have all 4 of his grandparents over.

Thursday morning was a busy one for our little chef, who was involved in just about every step of preparing our big meal. (Before we all know it, he'll be the one doing ALL of the cooking.)

He took a temporary break to watch the parade with me. There were a few time outs along the way for not listening (and unexpectedly dumping a handful of pepper into a pan!?!), but the enthusiasm was there. Does that count?

Turkey time.

Dinner was full of laughs, especially when Nico broke out singing Sweet Caroline at the table. And yes, we all then chimed in!



One of the best meals of the year.



Nico is so fortunate to have all of his grandparents around and so active in his life!

 
Working off their Thanksgiving meals.

And why do we only make pumpkin pie once a year?

 
As the night was winding down, it didn't take too long before he came out in full football attire asking to be presented. He ran around the room and gave us high fives while we cheered.

"...And now... presenting... for the Texas Longhorns... number 23... from Austin Texas... Nico Biagini!..."

 
The cheering apparently wasn't enough, and it was time to progress to tunnel formation.

Pretty hilarious. He kept us well entertained and belly laughing a few times! I love this kid.

I was determined to be in a few of the pictures to provide proof that I do exist.



Such a great day!

The Biagini's stayed for another day or so, and we made our way out to Fredericksburg on Friday! We showed them our favorite winery, Hilmy, and stopped at a second one before making our way to Main St. It was a nice time until the weather had other ideas. The temperature dropped 30-40 degrees along with rain! We ate at Fredericksburg Brewery and decided to get the heck outta there.

 



Now bring on the Christmas season!....