A Burns Family Christmas

This year’s turnout at the annual Burns Family Hotel Christmas dinner was phenomenal! 58 people!!! This is a tradition that my grandparents started waaaay back in the day. It’s changed ever so slightly but still has that good old fashioned family feeling. We used to always go to the Hotel Syracuse (when it was still in business), get a big long table, and eat the most delicious tomato soup on the planet. Well, big long table is still part of Christmas dinner, and there’s tomato soup (although a different kind), but the Hotel Syracuse is no longer. The Double-Tree does a nice job, thankfully, and puts up with the food-throwing (my cousins- younger AND older), so we appreciate it. And it’s a place for us to all get together and reconnect after a year (sometimes more!) of living our busy lives.
My dad comes from a family of 6 boys. He’s the youngest so a lot of my uncle’s children are older now with families of their own. As a little kid I always thought my family was large– and every year it keeps getting larger! Here’s some pics of our “Hotel Christmas Dinner”:

Bells are ringin’, children singin’
All is merry and bright…
Hang your stockings and say your prayers
‘Cause Santa Claus is comin’ tonight!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

https://dearfriendblog.com/2009/12/126/

Home sweet home…

Here’s my precious little house! DREAM!!
Came home yesterday afternoon to freshly fallen snow… couldn’t ask for anything more.
Happy to be home for Christmas!

Home for the Holidays….

Taking the Greyhound home with Meg and Lauren for Christmas! FAB!! We have quite a lot of bags/presents (pictured) and struggled a bit to get to the station (naturally) but we made it. Luckily, we got there early– the line was horrific!! And were able to get some McDonalds Egg McMuffins for Breakfast. YUM. Our bus left Boston at 7:15 and we are on the road to Cuse. GO ORANGE! If traffic is nice to us, we should make it home around 2!

So far, my ride on Greyhound has been reasonably pleasurable. I think this bus must be new. I’ve been on some pretty run down busses in my day. Our bus has free wifi, outlets, and ample leg room (although I have a bag of presents at my feet so I’m feeling a little cramped on that front). I’m also sitting next to a very nice lady who is sharing some of her trashy tabloid magazines with me. Can’t ask for much more than that now, can we? The heat is at a good temperature too, which is a relief because when we first got on the bus I thought my toes were going to fall off. Ahh the joys of riding the bus. Safe travels, everyone!! xoxo.