Dec 23-24-25-26

Here's my ornament for the day. I got this one from my godson David. I LOVE the movie (Disney Wonderworks) of Anne of Green Gables. ( Kind of like the fact that she's Anne with an e like me!) David's mother , Karen, knows how much I like the movie...and how I hope to someday get up to Prince Edward Island..so when they took a trip to PEI...they got this ornament as well as a nice mug and coaster for me. I keep her out all year with my dolls and special toys. and I think of David (and his mom) whenever I sip tea from my mug. We are heading up to my sister Elizabeth's house tomorrow morning...early...so This is it for a few days. I am looking forward to seeing Elizabeth's house...new since we last ventured up to Virginia Beach. She has all sorts of things planned...including a get together tomorrow evening. Brenna and Megan should be there sometime tomorrow afternoon too.
So the fun begins tomorrow night. Can't wait! As it turns out...my nephew Shane and my Brother-in-law Rob are coming to Florida tomorrow as we head up to Virginia! They will visit with Rob's father in Orlando..then come see the gang in Indialantic. We'll have a belated birthday celebration for Shane on Sunday night...when Mark has us all over for dinner.
Couldn't do the whole Christmas thing without a picture of my nativity set. I got this from my parents my mom when we got married. It is just like the set she had. It's very simple...but the details are nice. I love the shepherd boy and his little sister standing together looking into the manger. The reason my mother liked this particular set is because as she put it "Mary is holding Jesus, and a new mother would be holding her newborn baby" I had never thought about it that way until she said it...but I agree. I haven't seen many nativity sets with Mary holding Jesus....but I always look. I enjoy this set, knowing my mother liked it too.

Christmas reminds me of all the special things we did every year. My mother always had the Advent wreath set up...we said the prayer and lit the candles every night leading up to Christmas. The Christmas tree always had the aluminum star that my parents got when they first got married on top. We always had a string of little candy canes around...so we could share one with anyone who came over to see the tree.
when we were little (in Pittsburgh) my mother would make the big turkey dinner with all the trimmings, set the table with her good china, crystal and sterling silver for Christmas Eve dinner...figuring by the time dinner rolled around the next day we would all be worn out! We were allowed to get up early to get our stockings...but we were supposed to wait until my parents got up before opening any presents.
The week before Christmas my Dad , who really wasn't much of a shopper most of the time, would take the kids who were old enough downtown, to Pittsburgh, to go window shopping. We rode the trolley downtown, about 45 minutes/1 hour, I think, and got to see all the great decorations in the department stores downtown. Some of the stores really had fabulous displays! I remember riding home munching on Turkish taffy
and bouncing around in the back of the trolley...we all had a great time. My mom got to enjoy the afternoon without all of us....and we had a blast with my Dad.
Christams day we all went to mass and then enjoyed the day. When I hear "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" I think of my Dad...he told me once it was his favorite Christmas carol. I don't know that my Mom had a favorite one...I think she liked them all. Christmas was a fun time for our family....but we also knew what the holiday was all about...celebrating the birth of Christ. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas...
and for those that practice other faiths...enjoy the Hoilday season!