the Paladinos

Our December

Thursday, December 29, 2011 by Leslie Paladino

We have had such a good month leading up to Christmas.  This year we were able to take it a little slower and stay home more which has been so nice.  We’ve actually gotten to enjoy the Christmas season instead of rushing through it.  We spent the actual Christmas weekend in Berryville with my family.  Things went a little different than we thought they would when Gabby woke up Saturday morning with a swollen face and eye.  She had an allergic reaction to something which I guess we’ll never know what it was.  She got a shot of cortisone before we headed to Berryville and looked better so we thought she would start to get better.  But that evening she started to swell up again and broke out in hives so we spent Christmas Eve in the Berrvyille ER.  She was okay and it never got serious but they did have to give her 2 Epy shots and put her on a round of oral Epy as well.  Poor Gabby!  She was such a trooper despite the lack of sleep from all the adrenaline they pumped into her.  She’s much better now and we’re glad to be back home and looking forward to an uneventful weekend. 

2011 Christmas Card   
Silver Dollar City Pictures 
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Gabby on the stage at the Frosty show.  We had to get a pic because she’s usually to shy to participate in things like this. 
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Gabby and Gramma
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Gabby and Gramma in “Grandpa’s Mansion” which Gabby loved!IMG_0741
In classic Peter style this is how he ended the trip to SDC.

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Gabby in her Christmas play at school.  She was of course a sweet little angel.  She started out so well and sang 1 of the 3 songs but then got shy and started to play with her hair.  
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At the Fayetteville Square to see the lights. 

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Decorating cookies at Meme Pitts’ house. They’ve decorated cookies every year since my Dad and Aunts were little and we had fun getting to participate this year.
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Even Papa Dino got to join in with a self portrait cookie. :)
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Christmas Eve morning at home
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Gabby got just what she asked for from Santa.
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Peter told Santa “Ah Don Know” so he got guns from Santa.
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Christmas Morning

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Dexter waiting for his present.  He was so excited. 
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Ornery!
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Ornery!
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Meme and Papa Garrett
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This sweet little face belongs to my niece, Mary Ammon. 
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Papa made these beautiful hope chests for each of the kids.  He actually made them from wood from a tree from his front yard and put everything together himself.  Such a sweet keepsake! 

12 Days of Christmas

Sunday, December 18, 2011 by Leslie Paladino

Last week gifts started appearing on our front porch.  The first night there was a note with a poem about a partridge in a pear tree, a basket of pears, and a book on the 12 days of Christmas.  We were gone that night so we weren’t there when the gifts were dropped off.  There wasn’t a name telling us who it was from so we were a little wary to say the least.  The next night we were also gone and returned to a container of Dove chocolates and chocolate Turtles (2 Turtle Doves) and another note with a cute poem.  At that point we started catching on that someone was acting out the 12 Days of Christmas for us (yes, we’re a little slow).  The next night we were home but by the time Michael got to the door they were already gone and had left a container of Panera chicken soup, a loaf of French bread (3 French Hens) and another poem.  The fourth night we were totally ready.  We had our small group over for our Christmas party and had updated them on what was going on so they knew what to expect when Michael sprinted to the door.  He was there seconds after they rang the bell but he still couldn’t catch them.  This time we had 4 Angry Bird magnets (4 calling birds).  The next night we were gone again and came home to 5 Krispy Kreme donuts (5 golden rings).  Tonight I was in the office and heard them walking up the sidewalk and was on my way to the peep hole when they knocked and still couldn’t catch even a glimpse of someone.  We can’t figure out how they’re moving so fast but it’s impressive!  They left a candy jar with red, green, white and gold candy or our “eggs” from the 6 geese a laying.  It’s been a lot of fun and is now something that we look forward to every night.  I hope we’ll get to meet our mystery friends by the 12th day.  If you’re reading this mystery friend, Thank you!  A lot of time and effort has gone into this.  And as a side note…you should totally be a spy or professional criminal or something with get away moves like those. 

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