Angel Bread

One thing I really looked forward to while my mom was in town was The Gruber's Christmas Party. This year their Christmas party was while my mom was in town and they were kind enough to invite us all. I was so excited for my mom to finally get to meet Courtney's family. My mom always hears me talk about them, so she was very excited to finally be able to put a face to the names. Also, my mom is very appreciate to have such good people around me for the past five years and to top it of she got to meet the little angel, Grace. So it was a night we were all really looking forward to!

The fam before the party:

My mom holding Grace for the first time:

Of course my mom loved Grace and thought she was as cute as a button! My hopes were that she would see us holding her and want Ed and I to have a baby. Ed really wants to have a baby and Grace's NON-STOP cuteness does not help; however we have NO family in Vegas. Soooooo Grandma would need to move here. It's a lot of convincing to do, but we're working on it...

Before we left we took pictures by the massive Christmas Tree:

It was an amazing party and I'm so glad my mom got to participate in it this year. When we got home we decided to celebrate Christmas early and exchange presents. Since my mom works so hard, Eddie and I went with a "relaxation" theme for her gifts and got her Victoria's Secret Pajama's with matching slippers, a Vanilla/Carmel candle from Bath and Body Works and Vanilla lotion. My mom got me a hoodie from Victoria's Secret, a scarf (pink, of course) and a cupcake cookbook. She bought Ed a really nice True Religion thermal, a tapas cookbook and this really cool spatula:

My mom also brought a Christmas card from my Grandma Sophie that I look forward to every year. Each year my Grandma sends me a card with Oplatek inside. My Grandma's parents are from Poland and Oplatek is a centuries-old Christmas Tradition in Poland and my family has been honoring this tradition for as long as I can remember. Oplatek is the singular version of Oplatki; which means "Angel Bread". Each Oplatek (wafer) has a Christmas picture stamped on it.

This was the Oplatek inside:

(she took a piece from the bottom so we could share)

The card, the Oplatek, just everything was so sweet and I am so thankful to have such an amazing Grandma. Before my family eats Christmas Eve dinner we always say a prayer and we each break a piece off and eat it. It's sort of like communion, but only it's at home. Since my Grandma sends it to me, Eddie and I eat it before we eat Christmas dinner together. I’m so happy that she sends it to me because I feel as though I'm partaking in the family traditions even though I’m thousands of miles away.