I wish you all a Merry Christmas!

In a few short days we will all be celebrating Christmas according to the traditions we have formed over the years. Ours will be spent with some of our children on Christmas eve. Eating, talking, laughing, and eating! and eating! and eating!

Christmas eve day we will have sledding with the grandchildren

and baking with our daughters.

Christmas day will be just Dale and I and Landon home enjoying the day together.

So from my door to your door, I want to wish you all a blessed Christmas day.


I will be away from my blog starting tonight until about the first of the year.
Christmas hugs to you all!

White Wednesday and a special little Nativity

Today I would like to share with you my favorite Christmas decoration in the house. This little clay Nativity was made by my oldest child Kimberlee when she was in fifth grade. She was the only one of my children that was lucky enough to have Mrs. Hendrickson as her teacher. My daughter's class was her last in this little Idaho town. She had been raised here and I believe that this was her first teaching job after graduating college. She and her husband moved from here and she took a teaching job elsewhere, but not before she left her wonderful mark on many students here. One of the things she enjoyed teaching each of her fifth grade classes was working in pottery and baking them in her kiln. I have some sweet little pieces of art made by Kim, with the help of her teacher. This Nativity means so much to me and I love displaying it every Christmas. I'm very lucky that Kim hasn't asked for this little set, because I really don't know that I could part with it. Every year when I unwrap this little trio, I am flooded with memories of my sweet little fifth grader and how proud she was the day she brought this home.

A lot of my Christmas decorations are very humble and wouldn't be worth much at a thrift store, but they have the power to take me back through time and unbury memories that bring back the magic of the season. To me they are priceless!

If you love white like I do, you may want to go to Kathleen's Faded Charm for some real white inspiration.

I wish all of you a wonderful White Wednesday!

A beautiful giveaway...

Can you believe how sweet this is?! This is what Dawn at The Feathered Nest is offering to the winner of her giveaway celebrating her 1200th post and 400 followers. Can you believe 1200 posts?! Sometimes I wonder if I will hang in that long!
Run right over there to Dawn's to enter to win this little pretty made by her very own talented hands. Good luck to us all!!!

Merry and Bright...and a giveaway win!

Just in case I haven't said this enough already...I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!

Out by the pasture fence

I love the celebration of our Saviors birth. I love the nativity displays, both live and in statue. I love the good will t'ward men.

I love the spirit of it all. I love the lights. I love the music. I love the movies. (heck ,I even love

the commercials)

I love the smiles. I love the hugs. I love the candy and the cookies. I love the parties. I love the decorating. I love the store fronts. I love the cards from friends and family. I love the mall Santa, the S.A .bell ringing Santa, the stuffed Santa and the real Santa.

A little table top in my living room

I love the holly. I love the pine boughs. I love to hear the bells ringing and the carolers singing. I love the sledding and the skating (when I was younger, of course) I love the Christmas pageants. I love the baking...and I LOVE the eating.

And lest you think I only decorate in white...here are some of my favorite mercury glass ornaments above a window in the family room. I like how they look with the lights reflecting off them.

These just say 'merry and bright' to me. I can't wait to get these out each year and add the sparkle around the room.

And you remember the cones?! Here they are dressed with greens. Some asked me if I made these...I wish...but no, I got them at a wonderful florist shop in Boise one year. If you want to find unique and beautiful Christmas decor, don't overlook garden centers and florist shops. I find my favorite things there. They also have the most beautiful displays found anywhere. I just went to Sun Valley Garden Center yesterday in Bellevue (used to be in Sun Valley) a town just a few miles from here and I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful trees and displays.

At the garden center I worked at for several years, we put up about ten trees just covered in ornaments for the customers to shop from. We also had many beautiful displays all over the store. Working there almost spoiled Christmas decorating at home for me however, because after tree trimming and doing displays since the first week of November, I no longer had the desire to do it at home too.

Now, for my giveaway win.

Look at these wonderful treasures I won from Melissa at Piney Rose!!! My camera did not want to take a photo of this little birdie that would do it justice. It just sparkles. It is covered with glitter and fits right in with all my white decor. It came with a pretty vintage doily and a little snowman cheese spreader, and a beautiful tag.

Just look at this amazing tag!!! Isn't it gorgeous! I love it all Melissa, and thank you for such a wonderful giveaway! I am lovin' all my Christmas treasures from your beautiful blog and home.

Oh, and just in case you all didn't hear me the first two hundred times...I LOVE THE CHRISTMAS SEASON!!!