Merry Hughes' and Iwanski's!

Can you believe it's already the 10th Day of Xmas? Hope it's a happy one! So, what better time to look back on the 2nd half of our holiday visit to Illinois:

Evan, Aunt Magen, Franklin, Braxton, and Amelia.

Franklin had a blast visiting his cousins and Aunt & Uncle in St. Charles! (As did his mom & dad of course.)


The phone call's for Franklin?

Braxton's pretty silly...


Serious playing to be done with all these cousins!


And of course Franklin enjoyed the chance to have help as he helped (?) with the dishwasher:




Amelia was nice enough to show me the book that she and her brothers got for Christmas:


And Magen & Dave were awesome hosts, and even got Franklin a sky lantern so he could share in the fun and the luck:


Got some good lift, at least for a bit:

Ended a little humorously (maybe Magen will share some video?), but between the height this one hit and the owl we saw, I'm pretty sure everyone can count on good luck in 2013 :)

Sleeping in new beds is always an adjustment, but Franklin seems able to get comfy just about anywhere:


Speaking of comfy, turns out it's tricky to get that many cute kids to sit still for a camera. The picture up top is the best I could do, but here are some good outtakes:


Flew home on New Year's Eve, and it all went pretty smoothly, thanks to Franklin's charming personality:


New Year's Day gave us the chance to try out one of the spice rubs Merrica got us, along with the carving set from Nana & Papa Hughes:


Accompanied by roasted potatoes and sautéed spinach splashed with some balsamic from Gpa Ray & Gma Rhonda: Perfect way to ring in the new year.

Cheers, reader! Hope 2013 is off to a great start!