Christmas Decorations 2011

Every few years I like to take pictures of our house and decorations.  I change things up and like to remember where I put things in previous years.  It's also fun to put dates/places on things so that in years to come, I can look back and remember where they came from.  Here's our Christmas decorations for 2011.  I kept the planter on my front porch this year and put poinsettias and things in it, but totally forgot to take a picture!  Doh!  Next year I'll have to.

Every year our dining room changes a bit.  Mostly the same decorations, but just in different places.   Next year I'm thinking of putting the Christmas village on the big hutch and spread it all throughout the shelves.  We'll see.  

I love this fat snowman cookie jar, but Peter thinks it's silly.  I made the hurricane with the Merry Christmas sign last year.  I'm also thinking for next year to change the tablecloth to something different. 

This is our small hutch.  I was never quite satisfied with the look - thought it was a bit crowded.  But I didn't end up changing anything so maybe I did like it.  :)

This is our big hutch.  The top looks a little shabby.  It usually has more baskets on it, but I was using them elsewhere.  I need to come up with something for the top, not just for Christmas, but all year.  

Curio in the living room.  I just got this crooked, little tree from my aunt Paula this year.  I love the way it looks with my curio and wooden Santa.  Peter doesn't really care for it too much haha.  He likes the curio and Santa, but just not the tree.  

Bookshelf in the living room with my new Willow Tree Nativity - thanks mom!  The base of the creche was too big - it was the same size as the bookshelf so I only used part of it. 

I added a random Willow Tree Angel that I already had to the top.  She has a garland on her head so I thought she worked well with the scene.  I also added lights and burlap for a personal touch.  I like the candles in the background, too.  Next year I hope to add the wiremen.  For now, Peter's bowl for his keys and wallet sits beside it haha.

The end table gets switched to the other side of the couch during Christmas to make room for the tree.  I lost some space on top of the tv this year since we bought a new tv and stand in the spring with our tax return.  So the "joy" hurricane moved to the end table.

A shot of one side of the living room.  I added my childhood stocking this year.  Maybe next year we'll ask Peter's parents for his since he said it's similar in style.  I love old memory items :)

The back of our door and my free nativity hanging that I just love!

Our lopsided tree.  Good thing you can't really tell from this angle!  It's basically flat on one side and bulgy on the other haha.  Somehow we didn't notice that when we were choosing to cut it down.  I also love my tree skirt which was my grandma's old tablecloth.  :)

Now for some special ornaments. The red tear drop ones were some that Peter and I picked out together a few years back when we didn't have anything but solid colored balls. The small, ceramic bird was a quarter last year at Target. Love it and the jute string it hangs from!

I bought this ornament at the festival we went to in Berkeley Springs this year. I wrote the location and date on the back of it.

This big, fat snowman was given to me by my aunt a few years ago.

Another ceramic bird. They came in 3 colors so of course I got all 3!

The last color is white.  I got 4 of each of the 3 colors for 12 birds total.  I love the way they look on my the and am kicking myself for not getting more since they were only 25 cents each!

This ornament is from a Christmas home tour we took in Cape May in 1995.

This is the best shot that I could get of the whole living room.  

This is basically how we have it all the time, though.  Only the Christmas lights on.  :)

Christmas at Peter's Parents' House

Peter's mom and dad hosted our annual day after Christmas gathering with Nana and Aunt Marian.  We had a great meal of turkey, cornbread, and borscht soup.  Yum yum!  

After our meal, we opened gifts.  Nana opened the first one.

Peter and his mom. :)

Now I know where he gets his silly face making skills from!

Auntie M with the book we got her.

Mom with a gift she opened from Matt and Ruthann - a panini book!  They also got a panini maker to go with it, but I didn't get any pictures of it.

Peter is wearing the stuffing from the box that the panini maker came in.  Apparently, it makes a nice shawl.

Another Tin Tin book to add to his almost complete collection!

This is when Mom was about to hand a gift to Nana and accidentally broke the ribbon.  I love how shocked she was!

Nana starts opening the gift that everyone who was there pitched in on...

We all knew she knew what it was because Aunt Marian had her try it out to make sure she liked it.  Nana pretended she didn't know what it was.   

It was her back massager!  It was so funny because apparently Aunt M interrupted Nana's planned and supposedly rehearsed surprised act!

This big box was for Dad!

We couldn't tell what was in it.

Mom got him a guitar so that he can start playing again!  So cool!

Andrew making some stupid face haha

Me opening a Beth Moore book from Auntie M :)

Dad wrapped Mom's present with a big red bow!  Now I know where Peter gets his wrapping skills from.  :)

He bought her a back support for the car.  She apparently knew what she was getting and tried to pretend she didn't just like Nana did.  Must run in the family.  haha

My lovely in-laws :)

After presents, we had dessert and watched a movie and just hand fun hanging it.  It was nice to get to spend the majority of the day with Nana and Aunt Marian.  Especially since last year was so quick with the snow that came in.  

Christmas at Mima's

Christmas Day at Mima's! 

Chatting over a delicious meal :)

Siblings!  Sorry Bill - didn't mean to cut you out of this one.  Peter took it!

Mima brought us a canister from Italy that matches the sugar bowl and creamer that we bought as our souvenir on our trip last summer!

It's very difficult to get a normal picture of these two.  At least it's a nice one of Andrew. 

My lovely in-laws :)

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 Even Uncle Michael made a surprise appearance!

 

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was spent at my parents' house again this year.  I love traditions like crab cakes and stuffed shells for dinner, homemade cookies for dessert, unwrapping presents in a bit of chaos, and ending the night with "It's a Wonderful Life".  This year did not disappoint.  Except for being too tired to finish the movie, but that's typical due to our 5 hour drive Christmas morning.

 My mom's tree with presents "under" it:

The awesome gift basket that I received from Erik and Nicole.  It held a sherpa blanket, lots of chai tea, some candy, a travel mug, champagne, and an ornament that lights up.  :)

My lovely parents:

Erik and Nicole:

The newlyweds Mark and Jackie.  With Christian, too, of course!

My crazy sister!

Ashley and Drew don't do pictures well.  It usually takes 20 tries for them to both be paying attention, smiling, and looking at the camera.  I didn't have that kind of time so this was the best I got haha.

Me and the hubster :)

Christian is obviously excited about his gift from us.  It's an Angry Birds shirt that says "This is what awesome looks like!"