Grandma!

Dear Grandma Rita, 

We hope that you are feeling ok and that your arm heals quickly. 
Take it easy and be careful!  We love you!

p.s. Thanks to Uncle Jeff for the great photo who, ironically, may have sustained the most broken bones of any Bryant!

Roma 2010

 
<>Bongiorno!  Arthur and I were fortunate to spend Christmas week in Rome this year and I thought I would share a few photos from our trip. What a wonderful city -- we saw beautiful art and architecture, ate some tasty meals, drank a few frothy cappuccino (much too cold for gelato!), and learned (remembered!?) so much history. We stayed in a chilly apartment near the Campo di Fiori which was a perfect home base for exploring the city. If our pictures tempt you, let me know: I'm already dreaming of my next visit! 

 

Here I am taking a photo of the ceiling in the Jesuit Church called "Il Gesu." 
(I'm actually looking into a mirror, rather than craning my neck to look at the ceiling.)



One of Rome's most iconic sites, Il Coloseo, was built by the emperor Vespasian in AD 72 on the site of a marshy lake.  The Colosseum originally had seating for 55,000 and was the site of the famed gladiator games.   Much of it has been destroyed by earthquakes, neglect, and theft, but it is an interesting sight to contemplate.  Other arenas (in much better condition) can actually be seen in Nimes and Arles, France.

The pillar to Arthur's left is meant to indicate Jesus' height.  What do you think?  Is Arthur as tall as Jesus?  Taller?

Uh, definitely shorter.

What delicious food -- pasta, vino, pancetta, prosciutto, formaggio -- la dolce vita!

Do you see our ubiquitous guidebook? 
We love the Eyewitness Travel Guides!

Christmas with the Ladies of 2708

Merry Christmas!!

Well this is my first posting as a new associate editor of the blog....well actually, my first posting on a blog ever....so this should be interesting!

We have had a wonderful Christmas here in Glenmont. It started last night with the Christmas Eve mass where Michelle and I read, followed by a birthday dinner at Nick's Chophouse in King Farm, presents and cake here, and then meringue baking and Santa-playing until close to 1am!!

This morning we were up at 8 and look at the pictures to see Grandma Rita's reaction to Santa's gift for our family. A BIG new tv! It was about the same reaction as Michelle and I to our new laptops and Carolyn to her...slippers?? She's so easily pleased!

Jeff and Candy arrived around 11:30, about the same time as the Christmas phone calls began.

We headed on out to Andy, Ellen, Sarah, and Jake's around 2. We had a great day of food, fun, food, family, food, Wii, food, and visiting. In attendance were the 4 of us, Ron, Cory, Adam, Joey, Mr. and Mrs. Maslanski, Greg, Nick, Lauren, and Aunt Ellen's friends Pam and Don and neighbors from next door. The party started to wind down around 8, after massive amounts of dessert. But don't worry, tomorrow we will continue the celebration with the Doug Bryants and Wednesday with the Whites. It's a good thing everyone here has this whole week off...we need all 12 days of Christmas to fit everyone in!

I hope everyone has had as good of a Holiday as we did. Enjoy the last few hours!!

Merry Christmas, love to you all!!

~Rebecca

Christmas with the Plaza family

What did everyone do on Christmas Eve?  Here are some shots from Arthur's family party.  Merry Christmas everyone!

In these photos, you should have recognized Arthur with his two brothers: Andrew (in blue) & Peter (in green).  There were also sightings of his sister Liz (in gold) with her husband Gabriel and their daughter Abigail.  Mr. Plaza is proudly showing off his new watch and Mrs. Plaza has a Polish Santa ornament. Father Arthur, a family friend, stopped by before midnight mass for a shot or two of woda (vodka). (Although, come to think of it, I never did see him at church later that night.)  Arthur's other sister Theresa is sitting with her husband Jason who poached an entire Atlantic char salmon for us to eat.  Toby the dog was present too (he belongs to Jason and Theresa), but he managed to avoid the photographs.

I always really enjoy Christmas Eve with the Plazas because of the many Polish customs.  First there is the ceremonial Christmas wafer, the oplatek (pronounced o-pwa-tek), which is broken and exchanged among all present with your best Christmas wishes.  Then there is the Christmas meal called wygilia (vee-gee-lee-ah) which is vegetarian, and therefore features several fish dishes, mushroom, potato/cheese, and sauerkraut piergoi, and red (beet) and white (rye) borscht (bascht).  Of course, there is also the exchange of gifts, the imbibing of spirits, and much merriment.  Finally, everyone (except the priest and the dozing Mr. Plaza) attends midnight mass together and then crawls into bed. 

I hope everyone had a great day.  We're off to Italy tomorrow to ring in the new year!

Merry Christmas Party Pics: Part 3 - The Next Generation

Enjoy these pictures of the littlest among us.

A Wee Bit of Information

This just in . . . Denise, Jake, Rita & Grant are expecting a new baby sometime in late June.

Of course, Grant is hoping for a boy, and Rita's wishing for a little sister. Denise & Jake are looking forward to a healthy baby.

Congratulations Miller family!

p.s. I foresee a few baby blog polls this spring!

Merry Christmas Party Pics: Part 2 - Look Who's Here!

Stay tuned for more photos! If you have any you'd like to contribute, send them to wjanene {at} hotmail {dot} com and I'll post them for you. Have a great day!