Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

"It's the MOST wonderful day ...of the year" is the Christmas carol refrain running through my head today, as I take a billion pictures of all the fun!  Celebrating the birth of Jesus with the people I love most in the world makes for a truly wonderful day. 

The stockings were hung by the fire with care... and filled with sock monkeys and wrapping paper to tear....
Such fun we have had this morning with sharing all our gifts to each other and now we are all curled up playing and drinking hot chocolate!   Besides my insanely awesome new Coach purse that my men (3 boys and husband) picked out all by themselves, my favorite thing I got I will show tomorrow on the blog.  My mom made me a recipe book (using From My Kitchen) filled with recipes from both of my Grandmothers.  She scanned the old recipe cards and printed them, so the recipes are all in my grandmas' handwriting!  Complete with drip spots from gravy and berries and other yummy stuff! 

As I've gotten older, I feel very nostalgic about the things passed on from family, like my rolling pin, which belonged to my Grandma.  I use it every time I make pie crust and wouldn't trade it for a million dollars.  I can imagine her rolling out her crust with it and muttering when it doesn't go into the pie pan smoothly, just like me and my mom do.  I have quilts passed down from my other Grandma that we use every day that I can imagine her patiently stitching.  So I was thrilled and amazed at this recipe book!  Plus, it makes me feel the love from my mom who spent lots of time making it for me!!!!  Here's a peek:

I hope for a time of joy and peace for everyone today-Merry Christmas!