Thank You!

This past weekend was filled with many phone calls to pass along our good news, and to receive congratulations from family and friends on the birth of our first grandchild!

This is our son holding his precious son moments after his birth. I know he'll be a great Daddy, just as his Dad has always been for him.

Here are the happy new parents at home snuggling with their new baby and their pet dog, Mauri. So far Mauri seems to think his role is to be protector and guardian of the baby, so all is well.

Do you remember all the past photos I showed of baby shower gifts I gave to the baby? The profusion of outfits with lions on them? This is my favorite.

Our little grandson is the first grandchild to carry forth my husband's last name, as my son was the only grandson of my in-laws, so his birth was an extra exciting event for us because of that!

I will always associate my grandson with lions, and strength, and I pray for a long and happy life for him.

I want to thank you all for your congratulations and best wishes on his birth ! It was so wonderful to share our excitement with you all!

I am slowly trying to answer each and every comment as quickly as I can, and I've been enjoying all the wonderful Christmas festivities going on at every blog!

I have received some wonderful awards the past few days that I'd like to acknowledge.

Tracy and Jojo gave awarded me with the "Proximidade Award"

The Proximidade Award focuses on the development of friendship and camaraderie through the blogging community. "Bloggers who receive this award are exceedingly charming, say its authors. They aren't interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement but to propagate friendships."

Melissa gave me the "Christmas Spirit" award

This award's rules are:

You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award. The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas. You must link back to the person who gave you the award. You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. If you can't limit it to 5 things, then keep going till you run out of space! Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 50. It's up to you! But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going! Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment.

I could list a million things I love about Christmas, but my five favorites are:

1) Celebrating the holiday with family and being together in joy.

2) Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve where we welcome Jesus with song and worship.

3) "The feast of the Seven Fishes" on Christmas Eve, which is an Italian tradition that I have embraced to carry on in my family after my mother-in-law became too ill to do it anymore. Sometimes we have even more than seven fish dishes, as everyone has their favorite, and I hate to disappoint, so I make them all.

4) Christmas cookies! I love to bake, so I usually bake the family favorites and each year try one new recipe. I'll share the new one I tried this year very soon.

5) Our Christmas tree! We have been getting a real tree for many years and each and every ornament I put on it has a memory attached to it, so it is a recording of all our Christmases together.

I will be adding a special few for Leo this year but I will be doing that at my son and daughter-in-law's home, as we will be celebrating with them this year.

I am passing both these wonderful awards on to all of you in friendship and in the spirit of Christmas!

Enjoy!