Christmas Eve 2017

Christmas Eve was on a Sunday this year so we went to church then came home and got stuff ready to have our family in for dinner.  We always have a meatless meal on Christmas Eve.  This started many years ago when hubby was attending a Catholic church.  At that time in the Catholic faith meat was not eaten on Christmas Eve, or Fridays.  They changed those "rules" shortly after we got married and hubby said, "I'm so used to not eating meat on those days.  I don't mind if we eat meat on Fridays but could we please keep Christmas Eve and Good Friday meatless?"  Sounded good to me and he said "please", so why not??? We have egg, fish or seafood instead.  In the last few years I have also cooked a ham (mostly for my son-in-law) but we won't have a piece of ham until after midnight!!!

This year there were only 10 of us for dinner because our son and his family were enjoying a white Christmas at his in-laws, but they were with us in spirit and we all fit around the one table!

Notice the "heavenly host of angels" hung under the dining room light.  I made them many years ago and every year they hang under the light at Christmas!  All these little traditions is what makes the Christmas season extra special as we celebrate the birth of Jesus!

 

N

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

Early Christmas

Usually we go to a Christmas party that our former church puts on then because we don't want to drive home that night we stay at #1 daughter's overnight, but this year I double booked ourselves so couldn't go to the Christmas party.  Our daughter wanted us to come in anyway so I could help her and our son-in-law wrap gifts and we could make some shortbread.  They also played on the keyboard. We always have such a fun time and it's fun to work together.  Our son and his family are going to be away visiting her parents and will also be away over New Years so our daughter said she'd invited them in for brunch the next day.  It was good to be together!

Christmas Parties

Started off this morning by going to my Ladies' Bible Study group for our Christmas windup party.  We all brought food to share and our leader and her helper set up the room really nicely. It looked so nice and Christmassy!  We had a great time and exchanged gifts.  We each got a number and when our number was called you could either choose a unopened gift or "steal" someone else's gift.  It was great fun with lots of laughter!

I got hubby to drop me off then come and pick me up because we had to go to our Food and Friends Christmas party right after and we didn't have much time to spare in getting there!

At the hall we had a delicious catered turkey dinner.  The Quilter's Guild had a bunch of placemats there as gifts for us...we each got 2 placemats.  The pics show the front and back.

 There was a 50/50 drawing which we didn't win, but there was also a drawing and I won this lovely gift basket that was chock full of all kinds of goodies!  We are so blessed!!!

Gingerbread Houses

Our church bulletin said they were going to have a Christmas Party and we'd make a Gingerbread Houses, sing songs, watch a skit and have cookies and hot chocolate.  Sounded like fun, so I signed my husband and I up for it!!  Took the sugar cookies to share with our hot chocolate.

In all my years, I've never made a Gingerbread House! When our kids were young you had to mix the dough, roll it out, cut it to the right sizes, bake it, make the royal icing, then try to put it all together, hope it all fits and decorate it...I don't think so!!!  Now they come in kits AND the houses are pre-assembled...WOW...how easy is that???  Found out it wasn't quite that easy...the little "Christmas lights, holly leaves and other decorations are slippery little things to pick up...and the icing squirts everywhere, except where you want it to go! But....it was a LOT of fun!!!  And it made a lovely holiday centerpiece for my kitchen island!

Ends up hubby and I were the oldest people there, but we didn't let that stop us from enjoying our evening!!

Cookie Exchange

This weekend it was time to have one of my granddaughters stay overnight.  She wanted to help me make Christmas cookies, so that's what we did!  Three batches of shortbread and a batch of sugar cookies.  She was such a big help and I sent her home with a bunch of cookies.

Tomorrow I am having 6 ladies in for a "cookie exchange".  I made up 6 packages of shortbread cookies...1 for each of them and in turn they each gave me a package of cookies.  I made a big pot of soup and everyone brought something to add to our potluck lunch.  It was so much fun and I got some beautiful and delicious cookies!

Christmas Lights and Cake

We went to our  granddaughter's Wind Symphony concert tonight.  Really enjoyed her concert.  Afterwards 2 of our grandsons came and stayed overnight for 2 nights.  They were very helpful.  C and I worked on tweaking my computer...he knows so much more about these things than I do!  C & W both helped us put up our Christmas lights and we watched a 3D video on our big screen TV....and all I had to do was feed them...mind you with teen-aged boys, that's a full time job...but I loved it!  I had made a cake with apricots on the bottom, cake layer then pudding/cool whip layer.  I told the boys that Papa didn't care for the apricots so they didn't have to eat them.  C looked at me and said, "Grandma, you've never made a cake I didn't like!".  With that they proceeded to finish off the cake in the time they were here!  Certainly enjoyed their company!

I'm Back, I Hope

Hi everyone.  It's been ages and ages since I've written in my blog.  Don't really know what kept me from blogging...it's not like I didn't have anything happen in my life!  Anyway time to get back into it!