I thought about posting some of these pictures earlier but, I wasn’tquite sure what to say so I thought I’d just wait and do one big, long post about Christmas. (instead of several small ones). I’m happy to report that our first Christmas in Italy has been wonderful. It started with our Ward Christmas Party. We decidedto be late and show up at 8 pm. As we walked in, we realized it was a dinner… a little piece of info not mentioned at church. We found our seats and waited for them to announce that we could go get our food.
I didn’t take a picture of the spread but you better believe there was tons of food.. and it was GOOD!!!!!! Carlo even mentioned that how delicious everything was. I was quite happy he came with me. Some of the members remembered him from the Valentine’s Party and he met the super cool Sister Missionaries that always come over for lunch. He said he had a great time.
We had a lot of entertainment from the church choir
I was pleasantly surprised by the big turnout!
Sorella Jacobson and Sorella Huber made Brownies… I made sure to get one before they were gone!
ps.. Sorella Jacobson is from The North Pole! Alaska that is!… she knows Santa Claus! (seriously.. she says there’s a guy who changed his name to Kris Kringle)
Babbo Natale brought gifts for all of the kids!
On Christmas Eve, we went to Mamma Adelasia for a quiet dinner at home. Nothing special and nothing fancy… we were saving that for the next day! Christmas Day we went to Moncalieri to have lunch with Zia Anna and her family. (Mamma Adelasia’s sister) I was too busy eating to take pictures of the food but after 2 hours I was stuffed! We started with some snacks like chips and peanuts then had our Antipasti (starters) which was Prosciutto Cotto & Crudo, Cheese & Salame, then finished with Salmon garnished with oil and cheese. Then it was Cannelloni filled with ricotta cheese and zucchini. Our meat dish was Wild Boar with oven roasted potatoes. I’ve NEVER had Wild Boar before and it was AWESOME!!!! We finished the meal with some fruit salad and then Panettone.
Paola quickly learned Carlo’s name and had no problem calling me Yaya!
Zia Anna loved her Cowgirl hat that we got for her!
Carlo will someday learn how to properly hold a child!
We ate so much that by the time we got home, (6pm) we were ready for bed! Of course, it doesn’t stop there. Here in Italy we also celebrate the 26th which is St. Stefano. Generally you’re supposed to get together with more family and eat.. lightly. So, we had Mamma Adelasia come to our house for lunch for Minestra (soup) and MORE Panettone.
this panettone was made by the bakery in our neighborhood
Pear & Chocolate Panettone
we reserved it 2 weeks before Christmas and it was a good thing too.. it was the last one they had!
We took the opportunity to rest that day because we had an appointment to meet with some family members that night. We happily left our house at 9pm and got back at 12:30 am! There’s nothing like eating more Panettone with family to help keep you up all night. Luckily, we got home late so that I could Skype with my family who were all at my parents house for Christmas celebrations. As my brother said, there’s nothing like spending Christmas with 50+ cousins! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to video chat with them but I did get to speak to a few people and it was still nice.
We finished the weekend quietly at home with more Panettone and a walk downtown. Luckily for us, this is just the beginning. Here in Italy, Christmas lasts another 12 days until the Epiphany (January 6th). So, you can be sure that I’ll have plenty more to write, more pictures to show… and more Panettone to eat!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I did!
texasmomintorino.com 
I would have loved to been there at your Christmas Party. Glad Carlo went with you.
you had so much fun eating you just forgot to take picturs, huh?
i saw Pannetone here, but when I got ready to buy one, I forgot where I saw it. Save us some!
Looks like Zia Anna liked her Cowgirl hat!
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