The start of holiday fun

This year the holidays didn't really sneak up on me.  Jake's cousins, Barry and Phyllis, made plans to come visit his father for his birthday and Thanksgiving months ago, so I knew I was going to be cooking for eight on Thanksgiving day and travelling to Riverside the next day for a celebration with my family.  Everything turned out great at both events.  It's so interesting and fun to watch Abigail experience holiday fun this year!  

She loved Jake's cousin Phyllis and generally had a good time with all the people in the house.

Here she is looking out the window before anyone arrived, wearing her little Thanksgiving outfit, which is one of the benefits of having a toddler instead of an infant--dresses are just adorable on little walking people.

In Riverside we had an open-topped bouncy house for the kids which featured a bouncy slide, lots of pillars and blown up trees to bang up against, and of course bouncy house balls which were definitely used as weapons throughout the day.  I think the adults probably enjoyed it more than the children!  I came home with burns on my elbows and knees from way too much fun.

Here Abigail is oblivious to the fact that she was in the line of fire.

Despite the multitude of things that I truly enjoy giving thanks for, I have always viewed Thanksgiving as the beginning of Christmas (my favorite time of year!).  What makes Christmas so special?  I think it's different for everyone.  I love the lights, trees, warm fires, cider, cookies, and especially the focus on family.  I love making lists of all the people I love and deciding what I can carefully wrap in a pretty box and present to them as a token of my love.  I love singing carols and carving out time to spend with friends.  I love Christmas, even though I don't really care if it's spelled with a capitol C.    I was raised in a Catholic family where we sang O Come O Come Emmanuel every evening before dinner while lighting the advent wreath.  I remember going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve and being allowed to open one gift before going to bed, since it was technically Christmas day when we returned from church, then sleeping for 4 hours and sneaking into the living room with my sister to check out the presents under the tree.  After which we would run back to bed and pretend to be asleep so that my father and grandfather could come and carry our sleepy little bodies out to all the Christmas fun.  I hope that I can build memories like these for my daughter, despite the fact that we won't be attending mass.  I hope to instill in her a love of Christmas as a time to reflect, spend time with family, enjoy the sweetness of life, help others see the good in you, and eat a lot of sugar!

My favorite part of our outdoor decorations is my liquid amber, with falling leaves, lights and ornaments--it's beautiful.

Abigail fell asleep holding these jingle bells that she found the day I took out the Christmas boxes--she's off to a good start

 The first thing that I always do to prepare for Christmas is spend one day acquiring and decorating a tree with my dad....here are some pictures from that day.  It's an extra special tradition that really captures the essence of the holiday for me--the fact that it occurs at the very beginning is a bonus, because then I get to enjoy it for the month ahead.

In full stride RUNNING down the hill the morning of tree day

Sitting on the tree tarp, ready for action

Climbing up the step stool behind me

Me and my Papa

My sweet little family

Leaning back to get a better view

This is what Abigail does when I ask her to smile at the camera...

Sending my love to all my friends and family this holiday season....with plenty of laughter and good cheer to come!