Merry Christmas!!!!

It's hard to believe that it's Christmas time again,but here it is. Though I enjoy decorating,etc,I really didn't feel the excitement or the spirit of Christmas until I was grocery shopping on Tuesday. I was making sure I had everything I needed for tonight's gathering,and I found myself filled with happiness. I love having family over on Christmas Eve. We only started doing that once we moved into our house. We always had Christmas Eve at my mom's. Well, it seemed silly to have her do all the work,so a few years ago,we started having Christmas Eve at my house,and Christmas Day dinner at my sister,Linda's house. As I said in my previous posts,we have pork pies,and my sister Linda,her husband Tom,and my mom come up.This year,we are happy to have my nephew Tommy join us like he did last year.

Along with the pork pies,we have peas,cranberry sauce,celery stuffed with cream cheese and olives,and mixed pickles. This year for dessert I bought a pastry tray,full of bite sized treats. Once I am done this post,I will make my pork pies,then I will only have to heat them up tonight.I will then set up my tables. My main centerpiece will be a silver tray filled with cranberries and candles,and under the tray I will put some greenery. I will also put a lot of candles all around the house to give it a nice atmosphere.

Christmas is my favorite holiday.I love the festivities that surround it,and find myself more grateful than at Thanksgiving.I love the decorations,the lights,just the whole spirit in general.

Our living room is finished,and it looks great! We are very excited for the family to see it,especially with all the decorations.We bought two kerosene lanterns with wrought iron wall hangers,and I filled them with red paraffin oil. They look really pretty on the wall. We haven't lit them yet,I think Rick wanted to wait until tonight.

One of things that I like about Christmas is reminiscing about Christmases past. One of my early memories is the Christmas I got my Mrs Beasley doll. I was five. I remember the excitement of it all... Santa Claus! I could barely sleep because I was sure that every noise I heard was the Jolly One downstairs leaving gifts!

On this Christmas Eve,my family wishes yours a very happy,love filled Christmas Day!!!!!