Festivities

I haven't owned a water globe in my adult life. I was so pleased to receive this beautiful one from our friend, Peggy, who joined us for breakfast recently.

We've been invited to share Christmas dinner this year with The Cousins, so we've had a low-key preparation period. In the meantime, we've enjoyed some opportunities to extend hospitality.

Our friend, Jon, visited from Pittsburgh for a few days last week. While he was here, we invited a few friends to join us for breakfast on Saturday morning.

Breakfast is arguably our favorite meal, so it was a pleasure to plan and prepare for a great time of morning fellowship.

Sue and I were excited for our daughters to finally meet. Allie is a sweet, outgoing young lady who loves the Word of God, and the girls had lots to share during the visit.

I'm pretty sure this is the best candle I've ever owned. The scent is Amber & Bergamot, and it's addictive, therapeutic, soothing... I highly recommend it. (Thanks, Sue!)

Yesterday, Morgan and I helped Gabriela prepare for her First Annual (maybe) Cookie & Ornament Exchange, with some of her friends.

Caelyn was away at her nanny job, and the boys helped around the house as we prepared.

For Gabriela's ornaments, we used Vanessa's tutorial.

These were fun and easy to make, but a little hard on the fingertips (with the hot glue).

I helped with stitching the circles and did a bit of hot gluing, but Gabriela did most of the work on these. I think she did well for her first project of this sort.

The girls, (l to r), Emily, AnaLisa, Gabriela, Sarah, & Chloe, had a delightful time playing games, exchanging goodies, and, of course, giggling.

AnaLisa's cookies were so adorable! Sadly, I didn't get to sample one.

Chloe spent the night at our house the night before the party, and made chocolate chip cookies with Morgan. Gabriela opted for kiss cookies, which Morgan volunteered to make for her. (Happiness is having a really amazing older sister!)

Sarah & Emily brought these yummy pretzel-Rolo sandwiches. My mom makes these with a pecan on top, and we make them with an M&M on top. Either way, these go quickly!

For the record - and I feel that my word should suffice - homemade peppermint patties (brought by Sarah & Emily) are far superior to the name-brand option.

On a superficial note, I'm still trying to be patient as I await the return of my camera from the repair shop. I'm no photographer, but I look forward to sharing better-quality photos in the hopefully-not-too-distant future.

How are you preparing for Christmas?