And We're Back

Wow, is Christmas really over? It flew by. Christmas eve was lovely, Christmas morning delicious, and the after Christmas celebrations truly enjoyable. I really don't like traveling at the holidays, but I do love our families. They make it worth it.

The highlights of this year's Christmas:

1) Surprising my niece with a guitar! She thought that she was getting one but was really bummed for it not to be under the tree Christmas morning. that is what you get for snooping and reading your mom's emails. That was the saddest kid face I have ever seen on Christmas morning. We showed up with it and knocked her socks off.

2) Time around the fire outside in Deland. So peaceful, restful and relaxing.

3)Gifts not being the focus this year. Seriously you could count the gifts under our tree on your fingers. I want to keep it this way. The real gift is Christ's love for us and our time spent together.

4) A day spent with old friends. I love our Christmas tea times, movie time giggles and times shared. Old friends are the best.

5) Our Christmas tree. I love it!! It was really Charlie Brownish, and true to form magically transformed with all of the ornaments and lights into a beautiful tree.

I suppose that today is the day to take down the decorations. I swore that I would leave them up into the new year. I love our tree!! But we are trying to decide if we can install a wood stove in our living room. That is hard to decide with an evergreen taking up so much floor space!! I will try to get some pictures up soon. And maybe some of a wood stove come to life!!! Here's to hoping!

Wishing You all a Merry Christmas...

Today is one of my favorite days of the year, Christmas Eve. It is a long standing tradition in my family for us to gather together on this special night, exchange gifts and enjoy each other's company. When I was little the anticipation of gifts made dinner seem so long! We would entertain ourselves by playing with candles, searching under the tree for gifts and playing games. My cousins and I shared such joy in passing out all of the gifts. After everyone opened their gifts we were glued to the t.v. to see where Santa's sleigh was. We would come home and Mom and I would watch midnight mass on t.v. before going to bed.

They were magical nights. Some years we started the evening at a church service, others simply around the table. Every year we cherished our time together. And we still do. These days it isn't about the gifts anymore. It is about being together. Celebrating Christ's birth and the year that has past, getting ready to rejoice in the next one. Everyone makes an effort to be there. It is rare that anyone misses our special night together. This is the big one!

We have simplified our time together even more in the past couple of years. Instead of cooking a big dinner we switched to spaghetti so that the focus was on family time, not cooking. This year we have taken it a step further- take out pizza! I am really excited about this. No fuss paper plates and just good time together.

Dave has to work tonight, the duties of a new job. I will miss him. We'll have breakfast with my folks tomorrow and head out for his family tradition. They meet together the day after Christmas! These family times are our favorites. This year the focus is definitely not on gifts but on time spent together. I love it and hope that we can keep it this way.

Do you have any special traditions for this special day?

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

So Much to Write About...

I have so much to write about but so little time! I have to get some more chicken pictures up. Sorry that I have been bad about that. We love having the girls around. They are a hoot to watch and be around. We are currently getting 1 to 3 eggs a day. That means that a few girls are laying. We just don't know who the others are.

We did a bunch of traveling for Thanksgiving. And it looks like traveling is on the ticket for Christmas too. I can't believe that it is so soon! I am ready for some time off.

I have to run! Girls night at Ikea. We won't buy too much, don't worry. Actually one of my friends has a list. I don't have one.

I hope to write more soon. Thanks for stopping by!