Monday, January 7, 2013

Christmas Wrap-Up


The month of December slipped by in a blur of sickness, so that I felt like there was little more than a week to prepare for Christmas festivities.  The only goodies that got made were chocolate covered pretzels and sausage balls.  The peanut butter balls and coconut balls will have to wait for another special occasion.  No outside lights got put up, either.  But we did have our tree, and as I've said before, for myself I prefer the grinchy look, so the tree was well-adorned in round, colored lights.

Our stockings also were hung with care.

After months of parched conditions, a deluge, accompanied by thunder and lightning, erupted the night of Christmas Eve.  An empty five-gallon bucket on our back patio was filled to overflowing with rainwater by Christmas morning!  Despite Christmas morning beginning with a rainy 50 degrees, by early afternoon we had this:
My three youngest in the front yard


A White Christmas is truly a magical gift.
View from the front door
Here are my sheep, Mocha and Latte, who enjoyed the snow a lot more than they enjoyed the rain.

This is the most picturesque my backyard has ever looked:)

The stockings were pushed to the side to make room for a cozy fire.

The next day we had to make a two-day road trip east to see family.  My older two stayed behind to work. The rest of us drove through an entire day of this:
Along the roadside in Arkansas
It truly looked like Narnia, so beautiful and surreal, and the roads were perfectly clear ---- until we got near Little Rock, Arkansas.  There they were so treacherous--cars were in the ditch everywhere -- that an 8 hour drive turned into 12 hours.  We found out later that parts of Arkansas got 10-15 inches of snow.

Anyway, we made it to see our families.  I hated to leave my older boys behind, but I think they were glad to miss the four days cooped up in the car.  It ended up being good visits with everyone, though sleeping was another issue;)

Now I am home and trying to catch up on everyday life, which has included absolute mountains of laundry and a general cleaning out of closets and drawers.  January does push us to make a fresh start each year, doesn't it?

8 comments:

  1. What a special Christmas that will live in memory for years to come. Glad that you made it all the way to "Narnia" and back. Snow does clean things up very nicely until it itself gets dirty.

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  2. A snowy Texan Christmas! Is that a once in a lifetime occurrence, or have you seen such a thing before? And what a road trip! Snow and ice...shudder. I'll bet you were happy souls to reach your destination. I am happy that you had a nice visit with your family. And that you are all well again. Sickness does indeed create a time blur, and makes normalcy become an extremely coveted place to be.

    I am with you about January. I am quite willing to be pushed into making a fresh start and we are cleaning and sorting and organizing too. It feels good.

    Oooohhhhh...I think this is the first time I have seen Mocha and Latte. I am in love! ♥

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  3. So sorry your Christmas was a bit overshadowed by illness - really hope everyone is now absolutely fine. Love your snowy pics - all we had in the UK was rain, rain and more rain! Your stockings look so cosy hung up by the fire! Glad Mocha and Latte enjoyed the snow as well as the rest of you! Happy New Year, Angela! E x

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  4. So sorry you were sick this Christmas season, Angela, your tree is beautiful, we had a very simple Christmas with only a tree for decorations due to the remodeling, but it was quiet and wonderful. Your photos are so warm and inviting, wonderful Christmas memories. I agree the new year always brings a fresh start, I pray many blessings for you and your family this year.
    Hugs,
    Sue

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  5. Sorry to hear you were all ill over Christmas - coughs and colds were spread around our household too, annoyingly.

    Your snow pictures are amazing - what a lot of snow! We've just had weeks of rain here, very depressing but since the UK roads usually grind to a halt when it snows at least is made our trips to see family over the holidays less stressful!

    Gillian x

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  6. Happy New Year Angela. Looking forward to admiring your dressmaking skills again in 2013. And, yes, pop over for a White Christmas Dream and a slice of cake :-) x

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  7. The snow pictures are beautiful. We got some snow on Christmas day here in north Texas, too. It was such a gift as we were both sick. It's terrible when there are only two people in the household and both are sick at the same time. HA!

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  8. You have sheep? What do you do with them, other than enjoy them? Do you gather wool? I'm impressed, again! A white Christmas...I'm jealous! Glad y'all made it to Tenn. and back in that weather. It's scary driving in snow and ice.

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