Family and fun at Christmas break...

We had important guests over the Christmas break. My uncle and his family (wife and young daughter from Turkey and two older daughters from NY) came to spend few days with us. They did some sight seeing and lots of shopping and eating, which is in my opinion the best vacation combination.
We took them to a BBQ place that is very close to our home and my uncle was for sure in heaven....

This is a very cool and simple restaurant. Before you get inside you look at all the food and pick what and how much you want. Then they chop it up right there in front of you and give them to you on a tray/wax paper.
Then you go inside and get your side dishes and pay. After that, you can sit down and enjoy your food... And lots of it...

The below four trays were what we got for 10 of us...

We did many fun things during the break...
We went to see Christmas decorations on a cold winter night...

We baked and decorated cookies for Santa...

We made puzzles...

Roasted chestnuts...

And woke up to lots and lots of presents from Santa...

Sleepy adults and happy kids, and lots of wrapping paper...

Korman got lots of legos, and fun toys and crafts...

Sude got an easy bake oven, crafts, books, and legos... Sude's cousin Ezgi got lots of clothes and accessories.

We had many many meals together. Feeding 10 people at every meal was lots of work but fun at the same time since we got to do it all together ...

We finished the week accomplishing the biggest task. Finishing a 1000 piece puzzle. Making a puzzle on Christmas day has been our tradition and this one was no exception. But this time we had big puzzle and some serious puzzlers.

Santa is here...

How could Santa not bring wonderful gifts after having these cookies? I ask all of you out there.

And Santa was very good to my little ones. He made them very happy... I tried to capture the twinkle in their eyes... It just melts your heart to watch them so happy and excited...

Puzzle for Christmas Eve...

We are a little dorky... We like to make puzzles. It all started when my cousin left an unfinished puzzle on our dining table for few weeks. The one night when our friends came over, we all sat down and finished it by sipping tea.
This year, I thought it would be fun to make one on Christmas eve, and I was right... It was fun...

Sweet victory at the end of the night... 500 pieces, not a small job. We decided to make this a Christmas tradition. This year, it was a little hard for the kids but every year they should be able to help more and more...

Now I have to decide what to do with it...

2010 Decorations...

This year, I was determined not to get any new decorations since I got bunch on sale last year. I am looking for a red tree for the top of fire place but still could not be able to find one. Maybe next year...

This is our kitchen table...

Fireplace...

This is a new ornament from my cousin representing our new home...

Korman picked a pair of sports shoes this year as he ran his first 5K at school... ;-)

Sude picked ice skates as she got so much better at doing ice skating this year...

Holiday parties at school...

The last day of school before the holidays both Sude ands Korman had parties in their classes. My mom and I got to watch them playing with their friends, decorating cookies, enjoying stories, games, and hot chocolate...

Christmas tree...

We did decorate the Christmas tree after Thanksgiving few weeks ago. Grandma is here and it was lots of fun decorating and having hot chocolate watching the lights of the tree and the fire place.

We had a little hard time find a spot for it in the living room. We like it to be where we sit since we like to sit by it and watch the lights....