Welcome back

After a relaxing break with the fam, it's good to be back in Carolina. I went for a walk by the river this afternoon and only had to wear a fleece! 60 degrees in January works for me. The new semester kicks off tomorrow, so I'm off to prepare. Enjoy the last few hours of the weekend!

7 days of Christmas...continued!

Day 5: Christmas day is traditionally our low-key day with just the immediate family. It's a glorious day when we sleep in, open presents, watch movies and relax. The highlight for everyone (except Dad) is staying in pajamas all day, so to spare you, there will be no pictures from day 5!

Days 6-7: The O'Connor Christmas was in Indiana at Dan & Jess' this year. We made the 6-hour drive to Indianapolis to spend the weekend with Mom's family and celebrate the holidays. And the pattern of overeating and laughter continued...luckily, everyone was able to make it except cousin Derek. (We missed him dearly!) The long drive made some of us a little crazy (see photographic evidence below) but we still managed to have an amazing time!

5 Kennedys + 1 vehicle + 6 long hours

Cousins + Aunt Jeanie...love it!

Ashley and her mini-me...Shea

Aunt Amy and Daner...too cute!

The ladies playing horserace, the calm version :)

Daner and Shea Shea, my buddies

Regan was excited about the telescope loot!

Guitar Hero and Wii were a big hit throughout the weekend. The highlight might have been watching Dad get in there!

Get it, Aunt Judy!

Check out that form...a professional bowler!

It was a whirlwind of a week, but a great one. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays as well. Now it's time for me to get to working off all those Christmas cookies and wine! Thankfully, Ash is around to help me stay "motivated"...

7 days of Christmas...

The past week was full of preparations, celebrations, family and gluttony for the Kennedys. Christmas lasted for 7 days and I'm hoping I can work off a fraction of the calories I took in over the next year! I've included a not-so-brief summary for you all to enjoy!

Days 1 & 2: Cookie-baking with the O'Connor ladies...yes, we took two days to bake enough for everyone!

Auntie Sheila and Mom, ie the Peanut Butter ball rollers...
Can't tell they're sisters, can you

Dane, Rachel and Ali working quality control!

And in between the cookies - after lots and lots of anticipation and excitement - Ash made it home from Spain!!

We wanted to welcome her in her new language of course!

Look at how cute our little European is :)

Day 3: The Kennedy Cousin Christmas party was graciously hosted by Katie and Jeremey. They've done an amazing job renovating Grandma and Grandpa's old house, so it was great to see. The night was full of good company, weird coincidences, lots of laughs and reminiscing...including, but not limited to: Ms. Betty W. and the County Fair. Can't wait for next year!

Days 4: A long-standing tradition -- Christmas Eve with the Kennedy family! It was great fun to see the whole family together and catch up. Of course there was way too much food, laughter, gifts and (yes) caroling. Good times all around.

Dad and his sibs

The traditional piano recital had a Hawaiian flair this year thanks to Mia

Cutey Keana

Lady Kennedy Cousins - missing a few

Princess Sophie and her pearls

The night would not be complete without goofing around...

Grace hiding from the camera

One word: Payback :)

Days 5-7 coming soon!

Wisconsin bound!

I'm headed to the airport for the long holiday break. I'll be in Wisconsin through January 7th! Missing my SC friends, but can't wait to see everyone back home!

Holy snow!

Just got off the phone with Dad and he had finished clearing about 5 inches of snow off the driveway this morning. They're expecting more snow the rest of the day...first big storm of the season!

The weather in Columbia today: cloudy with a high of 67 degrees...

Thanksgiving Recap

The trip home for Thanksgiving was glorious...full of relaxing with family and friends. Despite being the lone DMK daughter home for the weekend :(, it was it was still a great time. The playdate with Rachel was a blast (lots of stories and wine), seeing some of the Kennedy clan was energizing (and made me excited to see everyone over Xmas), spending time at home Mom and Dad was great and seeing roomie Caitlyn was so exciting. All in all a great break before the craziness of the end of the semester! Here are a few pictures from the weekend...enjoy!

Keeping the tradition going...

An intense game of Scrabble...

The dessert table (before all desserts had arrived)...

Oliver, Emma, Matt, Claire

Rachel (my playmate:), baby Kingston and Aunt Bev

Me and baby Kingston...he's adorable!

Uncle Tim, Aunt Sue, Mom, Dad...housemates for the weekend

Claire and Grace

The lake on Thanksgiving morning...

Mom and Dad at the hockey game...they broke the losing streak!

Me and Caitlyn back on our stomping ground

Cait, Ryan, Steve and me...visiting our favorite spots

It was great to see everyone over the short break. I can't wait to spend more time with you all over the holidays!

So close...

I have two papers to turn in tomorrow and then I will be done with my first semester as a grad student. How crazy is that? It seems like the semester has absolutely flown by! Of course, what finals week would be complete without some type of sickness...this semester, it's a raging cold :)

The final countdown:
10 days 'til I'm back in Wisconsin
2 weeks 'til Asher is back and the fam is reunited
2 weeks 'til Christmas celebrations start
Can't wait!!