Thanksgiving Week

Last year we were thankful to have spent Thanksgiving in Ohio with Mike's family which was great!  This year we were blessed again to have them come to us, here in Massachusetts.  My amazing mother in law and her fiance came to spend the holiday with us.  We loved having them here even though the time went by way too fast.  It was nice having family with us again.  We had fun preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, playing games, and just spending quality time together.  Thank you for all you do for us and Baby Mavrakis.  We appreciate it more than you know.  We love you and see you soon...when there will be 3 of us!  

Wednesday night dinner at The Tavern at the Square

Wednesday Night Thanksgiving Day Prep

Dave and Faye

Homemade cranberry sauce...it was delicious!

Pumpkin Roll Time

The guys playing Connect 4

Ending our night with Pictionary!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Mookie doing what he does best!

Turkey brined, buttered and ready for the oven!

Turkey is done!

My very first turkey...I'm so pleased with how it came out!

Our First Thanksgiving in Massachusetts

The star of the dinner

Love them!

Mike's first turkey carving!

Dinner is served!

The Day After...

The boys did some heavy lifting and brought up some of Baby Mavrakis' nursery furniture.  We had dinner that night at Bonefish Grill...yum! Then we came home and put up some Christmas decorations.  It was our last night and we had a wonderful 4 days together.

Daddy after lifting that very heavy piece!  Baby Mavrakis appreciated it, Dad!

Our first Christmas tree while in Massachusetts

Saturday I decided to put together the stroller that my sister Nancy bought for Baby Mavrakis!  We LOVE it!  So simple yet so versatile! Thank you!

Infant carrier...just click the car seat in and it's ready!

Reclined for bassinet style

Facing mommy or daddy

Baby Mavrakis Ultrasound

Today we spent the day seeing our baby girl!  We picked up Mike's mom and her fiance from the airport who had come for Thanksgiving week and headed to Goldenview Ultrasound in Brookline, MA.  We thought it would be nice for them to experience this special moment with us hearing and seeing Baby Mavrakis in 3D!  It was amazing to see our baby girl in more detail! She stayed cuddled up for most of the 15 minutes that we got to see her.  She had her hand cradled under her chin and seemed so relaxed...let's hope that is a preview of the future. ;-)  Towards the end she seemed to get tired of us watching her and gave us a big yawn and stretch!  We got a video as well that I will try to download later, but for now here she is at 29 weeks and 2 days...We love you so much already Baby Mavrakis!

Relaxing!

Profile

All crunched up!

 Smiling!

 Giving us a yawn!

 Pictures with Baby Mavrakis

Our Little Family!

A Christmas Story The Musical

Today was such fun!  Mike surprised me a few weeks ago with tickets to the musical, A Christmas Story.  It's his favorite Christmas movie and when he found out they were in Boston, he had to go!    We headed downtown to Boston's theater district which was neat in itself because that was my first time seeing that side of town.  We started off with a late lunch at Rock Bottom.  Then we headed to The Wang Theater which was just beautiful inside!  The show was a hit.  Dan Lauria, the dad from Wonder Years played the grown up Ralphie and narrated the musical.  He was awesome and it was so cool seeing him up close, we were front row!  Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the theater, but Mike sneaked in one before the show started.  It was a great day/night.  Thanks honey for the tickets!

The Lobby

Blurry, but our only picture!

Yay for Guests!

Mike and I do a pretty good job of doing things like sightseeing, apple picking, and checking out new restaurants, but living thousands of miles away from family and friends, Mike and I sometimes find ourselves lonely.  That's why we are always excited to have people come and visit!  We get to show them around our new area, see new things, and just get to spend time with the people that we miss.  This past weekend my cousin, Anwar, came to visit.  Ever since I can remember, Anwar and me always found things to do to entertain ourselves whether it was playing Monopoly for hours, making up our own version of Uno, or pulling pranks...we always had fun.  He's my closest cousin and one of my best friends!  Thanks for coming to visit our bored butts and visiting with Baby Mavrakis, we had a lot of fun!  

Mike found some awesome tickets to the Boston Celtics game.  We grabbed dinner at Boston Beer Works and then we spent Friday night at the TD Garden watching a Celtics game!  Thanks for tickets honey, you're the best!

Saturday we had breakfast at home and then headed out to Salem. I had already been to Salem with my friend Carrie, but it was cool to see it again and see some new places in town.  We came home, ordered some pizza and rented The Internship.  Fun day!

Salem Harbor

On Sunday it was cold, gloomy, and wet.  We got a late start to the day, but we made the most of it.  Mike sat this one out and rested for work on Monday.  So, my cousin and I decided to head down to Plymouth, MA and check out the most popular rock in the U.S., Plymouth Rock of course!  The rain subsided and we got to check out a cool Mexican food restaurant to grab a drink and snack.  I really enjoyed the Plymouth area!  We came home and Mike had dinner going for us, so sweet...yummy spicy chicken sandwiches and sweet potatoes.

Random rock...

The beach  area in Plymouth

The Mayflower II

Monday was a beautiful day!  Mike had to go to work, so my cousin and I went to a quaint breakfast joint that I've been wanting to try out in downtown Concord, MA and then we went to see the Old North Bridge (part of the Revolutionary War) and the Minuteman Monument.  Exhaustion caught up with me from constantly being on the go and staying up late, so we went back to the house to rest and get ready for our last dinner together.  Mike got home from work and we all enjoyed a yummy dinner at Cheesecake Factory and then came home and played Monopoly.  It was a perfect end to a perfect weekend.  Thanks for visiting cousin, we love you!

Old North Bridge and Minuteman Monument from overlook

We thought it was funny...a random rock at Plymouth Rock and then a random car on a rock at the monument.  Weird.