I can’t believe how fast time flew between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I thought I was doing well but ended up not getting everything accomplished I had wanted. Doesn’t it always seem that way?
We actually started the season right after Thanksgiving with our annual Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert. We can’t start the holidays without seeing them. There’s just something about their music that I can’t get enough of. If you ever get a chance to see them please don’t miss out. Everyone should experience them at least once.
The narrator’s voice is so amazing. You just want to sit and listen to him all day.
We spent many hours wandering through different craft shows and bazaars around our area. After a couple of them though we tended to see the same vendors over and over again, not to mention many booths selling the same types of items. How many painted board items does anyone really need? I did pick up this cute one from a friend’s booth.
I tried hard to get my shopping done fairly early but still ended up picking up things at the last minute. One day I just might get my shopping started earlier. I envy those who pick things up throughout the year. It seriously helps the budget and keeps stress levels down. Maybe next year? Probably not but I can be hopeful.
We had a birthday in the house. My grandson turned 8 and had a dinosaur themed party. Not one of my fancier cakes but this is what he wanted.
There were carriage rides, Santa Claus and Christmas lights.
If you’ve seen It’s a Wonderful Life you’ll appreciate this building. Check out the name above the door.
The beautiful Christmas lights at Warm Beach Camp in Stanwood.
Christmas baking and cookie decorating. Every year my girls and I spend an entire day attempting to bake as much as we can. I usually have to spend a couple additional days finishing up and making second batches of all of our favorites. I totally forgot to take a pretty picture of our cookie tray with everything. Trust me, there were a few additional treats that I added later.
Starting at the bottom left Caramel Brownies, Raspberry Ribbons, Scotchy Peanut Butter Bars, Maple Nut Divinity, Plain Divinity, S’moreos, Mexican Wedding Cakes, Peanut Brittle, Chocolate Fudge, Cranberry Nut White Fudge, Chocolate Covered Pretzels, Chocolate Dipped Butter Cookies, Peanut Blossoms, 7-Layer Bars, Gingersnaps, Bing Bars, Peanut Butter Bars, Spritz, Cut Out Sugar Cookies (to be decorated later), Peanut Butter Fudge, Cotton Candy Sugar Cookies, Raspberry/Apricot Thumbprints
I wish I had remembered to get better pictures of these.
My grandson enjoying his S’moreos. A fun cookie for kids.
We have our traditional Christmas Eve snacks and appetizers while watching It’s a Wonderful Life.
Waiting for Santa of course and watching him on the Santa tracker.
Then there’s the haul on Christmas morning.
and it’s aftermath…
To end the day we had a simple prime rib dinner. Nothing too fancy or time consuming thank goodness. I used to do a whole turkey dinner with all the trimmings but the kids decided we should try something new and so it’s been prime rib for a couple of years now. I think I’m finally getting the hang of it. It turned out especially well this year.
Whew! What a December we had but I don’t think I’d trade it in for anything. We missed a couple of things that we like to do because we simply didn’t have the time. Next year better planning and we’ll try not to do every craft show there is. Only those we really enjoy. Most definitely the Christmas market in Vancouver which we missed this year.
Hope everyone had as fulfilling of a December and holiday season as I did.
A Little of This and a Little of That 