Our Christmas in New York 2013
Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year.
The season is full of joy, peace, reflection, giving and thankfulness.It’s become our tradition to spend Christmas in New York with my family, so that’s just what we did.
We started our journey by driving for many, many hours from Florida to New York. We’re not too thrilled about the seemingly endless road, but there’s something about being stuck in the car together, with no other distractions that is so perfectly wonderful. We can talk and talk for hours, listen to our favorite podcasts and music; it’s almost like a long, glorious date.
We made a spontaneous stop at a Le Crueset store at the suggestions of my sweet husband, where he bought me an early Christmas present, my very own dutch oven, in my favorite color too:).
We also stopped at a country restaurant for a bite. It had such a cozy, Christmas atmosphere, we just soaked it all in. While we were enjoying our meal, an older gentleman from the table right next to ours came up to us on his way out and wished us a Merry Christmas, saying that we had a beautiful family. It was such a kind gesture, his words full of genuine well wishes. We both were absolutely shocked when our waitress said “Merry Christmas. Your  meal has been taken care of. That gentleman didn’t want me to tell you until after he left.”Talk about a humbling and awe-inspiring experience. He really motivated us to look for ways to bless others and spread joy and cheer.
We Floridians especially enjoy the winter wonderland, the soft and fluffy snowflakes as they glide gently to the ground, and then the crisp sound of it squeaking under our boots. I’m so glad we took the time to play in the snow.
It was also a time for family reunions, since I have a lot of family living in that area. Two of Sergi’s brothers and an aunt live in Massachusetts, and we like to stop by to visit them also. We even got to hear our handsome nephew play the violin and went to his music school’s Christmas concert.
Our time together was so memorable and beautiful and I’m going to share some of our special moments with all of you.I took the time off to be with family, so to those of you who were posting comments, writing emails or trying to reach me on Face book, I apologize, but I was only online for a few minutes a day, just to post a few cute pictures:).
Of course, we spent some quality time in the kitchen as well, preparing a lot of deliciousness for the festive holiday meals.
This year, we decided to exchange homemade or personalized gifts for the adults, picking out each other as Secret Santas. Â It was so much fun! We were all amazed at how creative and thoughtful everyone was. The three kiddos were equally showered with presents by doting aunts, uncles, grandparents and parents.
My new gifts for the kitchen, mostly from my husband, except the wooden chopping block, from Milana.
We also got together for a partial family reunion with my side of the family. It’s so wonderful to see each other and catch up with one another’s lives.
I am so thankful for my family, all the blessings that God has given us, and most importantly, His Son, who He sent to this world as a tiny baby so many years ago. On this last day of the year 2013, I would like to wish you all a very happy and blessed New Year! Enjoy your celebrations and I will be back next year with a very special post to share with you all.
18 Comments
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Valik
Fantastic post Olga!! It was really amazing to spend quality time together with the whole family:) you have an incredible talent to write:)) keep up the great work!
olgak7
Thanks, Valik! Spending time with family is the best. It’s what really matters in life.
Nataly
Happy New Year, Olga!!! What a beautiful family you have! Thank you for sharing with all of us! Looking forward for the new and amazing recipes, which always work!!!!
olgak7
Thank you Nataly! Happy New Year to you as well!
Ange
Hi, Olga. You have a beautiful family! Just awesome! I surely enjoy sharing it with you:)
olgak7
Thank you, Ange! I’m so glad you enjoyed reading about our holiday.
Ludmila
Thank you for the Christmas photo I like your Christmas tree it is very styles. Happy New Year fan: Ludmila. God bless you and wish you the best this new year with love and peace in your house and always have your heart with god. Thank you again.
olgak7
Thanks, Ludmilla!
I’m so glad you enjoyed this post. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas as well. Happy New Year.
mila
hi olya. very beautiful family u have. is that baby yours? I feel like Ive missed something… he he
congratulations!!! and happy New year!
olgak7
Hi Mila! You can read more here and here.
Vitaliya
Amazing post Olga!!!! I wasn’t there with you all this Christmas so it was great to read the post and see all the pictures!! It is such a honor to be part of your blessed family really soon!
olgak7
Thanks, Vitaliya! We all missed you, especially Valik. Thanks for taking the time to make gifts for us. I LOVED the card. You are so crafty!
Yana Lyfar
Olga, first I want to wish you and your beautiful family a Happy New year. I absolutely love your blog, you put so much of your time and effort to share all those wonderful and yummy recipes. I enjoy reading all those stories you post, by the way that little munchkin is SO adorable; and what an inspired story about the WHOLE journey you had go through, It made me tear up, seriously. I really hope one day I get to meet you in person, you seem like a very warm-hearted person.
olgak7
Thank you so much for the kind words, Yana. It’s been an incredible journey and we are so thankful for every step.
I’m glad to know that you are enjoying my recipes and stories.
Olga
Happy New Years to you as well. You have such a sweet humble spirit! I enjoy this blog more and more. Thank you for sharing your passion for food, family and most importantly God!
Olya Shem
Beautiful post! Thank you so much for sharing your special family moments with us. I love how creative everyone in your family is! The gifts you guys made for each other are really good.
Thank you for all the work you put into this blog. If you guys ever make your way to Sacramento CA, we would love to have you over for dinner. I’m not a fancy cook by any means, but I’ll probably be using your recipes đŸ™‚
olgak7
What a sweet invitation, Olya! We would love to visit your coast someday. It’s the biggest honor for me when I see others using my recipes.
We did have a lovely Christmas with my family, and I agree – they are so creative:).
Nadia
Hi Olga! Beautiful post! Lovely pictures đŸ™‚ I was wondering about the Cooking School book you got… Could you tell me who the author is? I’m interested in getting one for myself. Thank you!