Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Our Christmas was very peaceful...for once...

Christmas Eve we decorated the house with fresh greenery and baked goodies for most of the day, while singing along to the Christmas playlist I had put together the week before.

 My brother and I made our Christmas wreath together at the expense of my hands...I somehow acquired a severe allergy to cedar this past year...

Our Christmas tree was the smallest we've ever had (we usually get one close to ten feet tall) but it was so full and just plain lovely that no one could complain.

For the past three years we have had an unofficial battle with our next door neighbors to see whose house looks the most "Christmassy" when everyone comes home from Midnight Mass.  Last year we ran out of lights and lost...and this year we were literally checking each others houses all day to see who had more decorations...

Dad put the tree on a box to make it look taller, and after we finished decorating we decided it's the best on we've ever had.

Christmas Morning we woke up to find new, steerable sleds...one of which is big enough to hold all three of us...

(As you can see, my taste in movies is rather diverse =))

For dinner we had a Christmas turkey, cranberry sauce, broccoli rice casserole, mashed potatoes, spicy creamed spinach, and cheesecake for dessert.  It was delicious and we were too full for Christmas candy afterwards...
And after getting only four hours of sleep the night before, I was most certainly ready for bed.

Right before New Years, Mom and Dad took us all to see "The Hobbit, Battle of the Five Armies" at the new Warren Theatre.  It just opened a week or two ago, and, even though we had already seen "The Hobbit"  once with a friend, it was worth breaking our One-Theatre-Trip-A-Year rule...

 Mr. Warren did a WONDERFUL job making the theatre an enjoyable experience...and we are already trying to find an excuse to go back ("Kingsman, The Secret Service", anyone?)

After the movie we had a company meeting at a nice restaurant...

I hope you and your families had a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!!!