Excited about Christmas

I am REALLY excited about the Christmas season this year for a few different reasons......

I haven't been able to use my Christmas decorations since Nathaniel and I sold our home and put everything in storage. We traveled for a year overseas and then moved into my parents home while we were waiting for Nathaniel's acceptance into the RCMP. After we had our daughter and Nathaniel completed 6 months of depot training we were excited to finally have our own home again. We moved to Alexis Creek just before Christmas last year and had to stay in someone elses home until our home was ready for us in January. I had hoped to use at least a few of our decorations, but we didn't have a clue as to where to even begin looking for them. A charlie brown Christmas tree from the bush and some blue lights were all that we were able to rustle up.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE decorating the Christmas tree and over the years I have accumulated some lovely ornaments, many of which I have not yet been able to use. Growing up as a child and even as a teenager I had fond memories of our family's traditions. When we decorated the tree we would play Amy Grant's "A Christmas Album" on our record player and then later on iTunes, and my mom would lay out plates of Christmas cookies, garlic sausage, cheese, pickles, crackers, and tea. We would take our time, oohing and cooing over our favorite ornaments, nibbling on yummy treats and dodging the video camera my father seemed to have permanently affixed to his shoulder. My sister and brother would often haphazardly place the ornaments, and I would usually trail behind them and re position them where I thought they looked best. I acquired the name "tree Nazi" for a good reason.



Another one of my favorite family traditions is decorating gingerbread men and a gingerbread house. I loved all the bowls of colorful candy, and sneaking a piece here and there. I did make a gingerbread house last year, and forced my poor husband into decorating it with me after we put Amelia to bed. (He doesn't get nearly as excited about Christmas activities as I do but I am convinced that he will eventually). I forgot to buy candy that particular year so I used some of my baking supplies.



On Christmas Eve we always had an oil and chocolate fondue. Oh how I LOVE this tradition. We sit around, slowing cooking our food and chatting away the evening. The women always finish first and then move to the living room to chat by the tree while the boys rejoice about the fact that they now have more fondue sticks with which to cook with. This year it will be a quiet fondue.... perhaps we will have to invite another couple over.

Christmas morning, after we had opened our much anticipated stockings, we would have a big breakfast complete with waffles, whipped cream, fresh fruit, sausages, hash browns, eggs and orange juice. Once we were satisfied we would begin opening our presents one by one. We always went from youngest to oldest, and I didn't mind because it made Christmas morning last longer.




In recent years, or at least since Nathaniel and I have been married I have started a few new traditions....

1. Visiting the Bay with Christina to take in their delightful floor filled with sumptuous trees and decorations in every color.. The first time we stumbled upon it we both audibly sighed and wandered around with childlike fascination.

2. Baking new things. I find particular joy in sitting down with my favorite Christmas cookie magazines and perusing them for new recipes to try. Nathaniel always requests my butter tarts and I can't help but make my favorite, which are thumbprints, but I always try something new. I haven't quite decided what I am going to make this year but I certainly have a long list of options.