Christmas '13

It feels so wonderful to be back and able to blog after an incredibly busy festive season!  Not only were we preparing for guests, making the last of our gifts and organizing menus, we also had a whole lot of apricots come through that needed to be made into jams and chutneys. 

But fortunately we finished all we needed to do on time and were able to enjoy a very special Christmas day together.

The decorating of the tree took place two days before Christmas day.  The tree was from the farm and took up a whole section of the living room – we had to use a ladder to reach the top!

All our gifts to each other were either handmade, homemade or put together with much thought.  I accomplished my goal of giving every one of my family members a gift…

Beth and Gabrielle received a mosaic kit which I put together myself while Nancy got a rooibos cappuccino making kit.  You can see what I included in it below…

I made Sofia and Rebekah a few felt cookies each which I put in a special box.  They also got their own plastic drinking mug.

 I gave my mom a beautiful basket which she decided to use as her veggie collecting basket.  I was the first one to use it and gathered our Christmas salad leaves in it…

Mom, Nancy and I worked together to make the four younger girls colour-coded Native American headdresses and hobby horses.  Mom and Dad also bought them each a set of bows and arrows which were also colour-coded to prevent squabbling:-)

 

You’ll definitely be seeing more photographs of our little Indians very soon!

Mom and Dad gave Nancy and I something we’ve both needed and wanted since the beginning of the year – music stands!  We are so excited we can now play without having our music slipping!

Look at how beautifully Nancy wrapped my gift of a pot and handmade garden markers.  Of course I kept the gorgeous quilting material…:-)

Granny (who spent Christmas with us), Nancy and I put together our Christmas crackers.  We went for a simple theme of gold and silver…

Each cracker contained a little gift as well as a verse for every person…

 

Our festive table…  We used the crackers as place settings.

I spent Christmas morning preparing dinner with Nancy and mom's help.  We made platters of beautiful salads and cold meats as well as home baked rolls and preserves.  We had a lovely relaxed lunch together and enjoyed an ice cream trifle later on.  Unfortunately with the weather being so hot, the ice cream melted so quickly!

Following our tradition, I made our Christmas cake in October and Nancy iced it on the day… 

 

 

The next day we gathered our leftovers and went off to Jubilee Creek for a relaxed picnic lunch – you can see the photographs from the day here…

I hope you and your family enjoyed a very special and blessed day together, celebrating our Lord and Saviour’s birth!

Blessings,

Kelly-Anne