Christmas Recap

I hope everyone has had as wonderful of a Christmas as we had this year. We were down at my sister's house over Christmas. It was very nice having the whole family together. My parents and brother are here from Oregon and this is the first Christmas to have a baby in the family since me.:-) Needless to say, the Knoxster received special treatment for Christmas this year, but fortunately he is a very charming and sociable child who does quite well with all the extra attention.

My sister cooked a delicious Christmas dinner of Pork Tenderloin with Tarragon Mustard Sauce which was wonderful and had sides of Parmesan Potatoes, Spinach Artichoke Casserole, Asparagus, Wheat Bread, Fruit Salad and Green Salad. In the evening, we had snacks and desserts that we all helped prepare. My contributions to the day were a Mango Cheeseball, Green Salad, Christmas cookies, and a Chocolate Cake with a creamy peppermint icing. My mom made a delicious sugar-free pumpkin pie for my dad, who is diabetic, and we all enjoyed it.

It seemed as though we had a larger pile of presents than usual this year. Maybe the new baby is the reason for that? But this is the first Christmas we have all been together since Kathryn and I have been married, so there were 3 more people in the family. I know that presents are not the real reason for Christmas, but it is such a fun tradition to give and receive. I was feeling pretty good about all the bargains that I had gotten on Christmas gifts this year. But come to find out, everyone did that! My husband thinks it is hilarious how we(Mom, Kathryn and I) get such pleasure out of telling where we got our presents. We are all great clearance and yard sale shoppers, as well as the occasional re-gifters. Among my pile of gifts were a set of sheets,a sweatshirt,some books, cherry kitchen towels, cherry serving plates, cherry spreaders, a cherry spoonrest and trivet, some Christmas ornaments and decorations and a vintage apron embroidery kit. Maybe our families wish for me to decorate my kitchen with cherries?!?! I sort of got that idea!;-)

We did some shopping on our way home. My sweet husband agreed to let me stop at my favorite store- the April Cornell outlet store in Greenville. The cashier who was also the manager gave me a $20 dollar coupon for shopping that day so I spent very little on two items. I pretty much got one dress($19) for free. I returned the favor by letting him stop at his favorite music store in Gaffney.

Now we are home and I am still digging myself out from under a very generous Christmas. I am leaving my tree and decorations up until after New Years. My family is still around and for me the holidays will not truly be over until the last guest leaves. I always look so forward to this time of year and while I am anxious about life getting back to normal, something in me wants to prolong the Christmas season just a few more days!