A Simple Christmas

Our tree this year...and my favorite gift from years past from my hubby, the Santa. One day I will do what I always say I will, and wrap all the presents in the same paper, with matching homemade tags and bows...one day. I tend to change the theme of my trees each year or two...but I think will keep this one for sometime and just add to it. 

Each year it seems our Christmas celebrations get smaller. With so many loved ones having passed, many friends and family members being spread out over the country, and our daughters grown and starting traditions of their own as well as spreading time between us and their new families, well, we have given up on the traditional way we once celebrated.(How's that for a run on sentence?) So each year we do our best to just go with it and grab family time any way that we can get it. 

This year, we celebrated the Thursday before. We had our youngest two girls with us, and our oldest on Skype. We are all on very tight budgets, not as tight as last year, but tight compared to other years in the past. So there was a lot of shared the expense  gifts, and our big feast was pizza, a great bottle of wine and pie. It was short and sweet, but we were grateful for the time spent together....after all that is what is most important...the greatest gift of all, and one that is valued over all other gifts one could receive. 

Our youngest created this lovely cheese and fruit plate for the occasion.

Was very happy with how the tree came together ...new this year, more sparkles and pics of my fav 20's ladies.

My word for the year "Believe" of course was on the tree...and LuLu!

Owls always remind me of my Grandma Cockrell, finding one in white and silver was perfection!

Angel wings to remind me that Angel's are always watching over me. A touch of pink...it was a must...hoping to add more as time goes on. 

A Mark Robert's "Jack Frost" was our tree topper this year.

I read having a birds nest on the tree brings good fortune and prosperity in the new year...so went right out and found the perfect one...even has sparkle added!

My Grandma Cockrell gave me this Angel mini tree topper so many years ago, when I was a child. I treasure it, and it is perfection near the word block.

This is the Nativity set we have had since the girls were very young. No matter my theme, this makes an appearance.

My Mom gave me a bit of cash for Christmas, I bought Zgallerie diamond shape tea light holders..I set them on glass snow flakes to add that holiday touch. 

Our youngest Angel dreamed of a dress form, she is a budding seamstress...the family all chipped in and made it happen. Here she is goofing off for the camera.

Our lovely middle daughter Rebecca getting ready to open her gift...fuzzy socks...she loves getting them every year!

Not the best pic of me. But I was truly happy with my gift, even if I was not with the photos of me...no make up...having tried to coax curls, a bit of a mop top....Why a bear, at my age? Well, with the fibro it is hard for me to get comfy at night, the big bed pillows are too big, but a big bear is just right...and he is sooooo soft!

Queen Bitty was quite happy with her box!

I received a video game, tea, candy & cookies and a bit of cash even, but a fav was this dress form...now to decide how to decorate it!

On Christmas Eve, hubby and I went to our now norm to us place to eat...Chevy's, to share a Fajita plate, and after drove around to see Christmas lights...we zig zagged all over the city and near by towns and one of our favorites was driving through a development with 11,000 lights! The streets were lined with luminaries! It was so simple, yet so very beautiful. We enjoyed the lights on the houses too, but the most jaw dropping was the giant 50 foot high trees covered in colorful lights!

Disney was big in every large holiday display that we saw, but no bigger than it was at this house, even the house looks like the dwarf's home in Snow White. There was lovely music playing and so many glorious lights! 

...AND the trees I mentioned! My photos do not do them justice!

Sunday, Christmas day was spent with fresh baked cinnamon rolls, the Disney Park Christmas Parade on the TV ( a tradition, even with kids all grown), a lazy day of watching every movie we had on DVD from Netflix or recorded and ending the night with cheese and then chocolate fondue prepared by hubby...it was a quiet, relaxing way to spend the holiday. It may have been the most simplistic one we have ever had, but the love that wove in and out of it was the same and as I said that is what counts.