"It is good to be children sometimes and never better than at Christmas." 💚Charles Dickens
Here I am typing this on the eve of returning to school. In our home our Christmas trees are still adorned with gold and shiny ornaments. The house is still festive with reds and greens, quilts, and candles. It will all come down in it's time -- for us at the end of this week. Just one more week of Christmas. I will come come from school tomorrow, turn on all of the lights and enjoy the glow again.
I took hundreds of photos on Christmas Day and have sorted them. So here we gooooooo - this was our Christmas morning, afternoon, and evening; the happiest day of the year for sure!
"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime." 💚Laura Ingalls Wilder
After I took all of those photos, the girls were changed and ready to come down the stairs. Is there anything more exciting?
It doesn't matter there age, I love their faces all lit up on Christmas morning. Magic I tell you, magic!
~So come with me where dreams are born and time is never planned~
J.M. Barrie
Now, to explain... every year the girls have one "big gift" that isn't wrapped, for the two of them together, and it's where they run first. There have been some really special ones over the years. But as they grow older, Santa had to get creative and plan something that wasn't a toy. I'll let the photos share their surprise.
I wonder what where basket type purses are? Really cute, they love them - but still not sure of this first clue until they opened them and saw a sticker that said, "Nantucket Christmas"
And the book - they opened that up to find the details!
Love their faces when they put it all together -- we're going in two days!
Even the birds (Noel and Nutcracker) had stockings with gifts in them!
Time for the happiest breakfast of the year. The warm kitchen. The sun pouring in, the hot Christmas spice tea, and the recipes we make every year - truly the happies breakfast ever.
This year I set the table with a whimsical - vintage type table cloth and formal dishes. I love to mix it up and change each year.
After breakfast we headed into our family room to share and give our family presents.
Anna's thoughtful gift for Abigail.
I gave both my girls new dress coats. They loved them so much!
Abigail has always had Anna's dress coat after she outgrows it so she was especially excited to her her own!
Then it's on to stockings in our living room!
Later that afternoon we headed to my parents for Christmas dinner, desserts and more memories.
If I breath deeply I can smell our Christmas tree that I so don't want to take down. This Christmas loving girl wonders how she can possibly wait until November 2023 to begin holiday season again. I am so grateful for the memories with the people I cherish most in this world. Merry Christmas everyone!
And here is a peek into past years. I've linked them all here -- it's hard of course to not wish them to be little but I'm so grateful each day they are mine on this Christmas Day!
I was recently listening to the full book, By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder and loved this last quote in the Merry Christmas chapter. She wrote:
Gorgeous pictures!! I love gifts of travel, what a magical experience and a great way to keep Christmas lasting a little longer. I'm so sad it's over, can't wait for next year!!!
ReplyDelete