CHRISTMAS 2014 IN REVIEW....LOVE ACTUALLY

The flurry of Christmas Eve and Christmas day are now over. 

We can all breathe a sigh of relief and satisfaction

 knowing that another holiday was blessed indeed, 

with family, a bounty of hugs and smiles, delicious food and 

that warm feeling of happiness! 

I hope all of you had a marvelous day that was shared with those you

 love and treasure in your life! 

Here's a recap of those days in our lives.

In Atlanta........

Miss M and her family were invited over the day before Christmas Eve to enjoy homemade lasagna with their darling neighbors! I am over the moon happy, that Kelly and Rob, along with their three adorable children, moved next door last year. It's been a delightful friendship between the two families! This was M sharing a moment with Chili.....snoring away...content and feeling loved! 

The shopping continued on Christmas Eve day and it was a pretty welcome break to grab some lunch out before heading back home to prepare for the night's festivities! Is this not the cutest beer glass you have ever seen? I just may have to find these for Nick and Rob!  

It was a holiday breakfast prepared by none other than Snowy the Elf!

Powdered doughnuts and snowman milk.....now a tradition!

Looks like this is one happy boy! 

Don't you wish everyday could be this much fun?

Time to bake the sugar cookies! 

Dad looks a tad frustrated with how this is going! 

One Atlanta mom actually talked or shall we say " hired", 

 Santa to make a home visit on Christmas Eve! 

OMG....wouldn't we have all loved this when we were children?

The tradition is to open one special gift on Christmas Eve night.

A pair of warm, soft and comfy flannel PJ's and a Christmas stuffed animal! 

Preparing for their special Christmas Eve family party! 

All is calm.....all is bright! 

The last of Snowy's antics.....

Groucho? Is that you????

A very merry Christmas from Atlanta!

A Texas Christmas! 

Greg and Jenn put up two trees,,,,,,the red and white family tree

and  the formal front window tree in the living room.

Each year, these newlyweds plan to add special red ornaments to the tree.

I think this is too cute and whimsical! 

We headed out to son #2's house for Christmas Eve.

Their house was beautiful!

The live tree was adorned with vintage glass Santa's and

 presents were wrapped and placed carefully under the tree! 

Our weather was rather warm for a Christmas Eve day! 

I loved this decoration!

Cat said a friend of hers made this.......

it's actually a glass block and inside is a string of red Christmas lights...

all tied with silver ribbon! I so want to try to make one of these! 

It is Catherine's family tradition to exchange stockings on Christmas day.

A precious fireplace look with some of her treasured family heirlooms! 

The kitchen was bustling with activity.

We were all preparing the Christmas Eve buffet and

 waiting for Rob to arrive from Austin! 

How fun it is to have a teenage granddaughter.....

taking a selfie with her Papa! 

As the Smith family tradition is to fry a turkey on Christmas day, we gathered out by the pool with cocktails and enjoyed our time together while smelling that incredible aroma of fried turkey! My time in the kitchen was done! I had gotten up early Christmas morning to prepare a breakfast casserole, croissants, the mimosa bar and hot cinnamon rolls! We took our leave of the kitchen prep area and let Cat, Nick and Cat's mom, Liz take over for the grand dinner we were about to enjoy! 

We were delighted when Carrie came out with a huge plate of freshly stuffed mushrooms! This recipe was incredible! She graciously shared her recipe with me. so I will try to publish this one soon! They are gone in a matter of minutes! 

Abbie and Halee coloring the Disney Princesses!

Capturing a moment of an unexpected gift.....

Mother-Daughter dinner preparation

Preparing the buffet

Mr. Snowman was a gift for hosting the holiday

It took a village to prepare the dinner......

Carving the turkey.....roasted leg of lamb and a 

honey baked ham were the stars of the menu! 

Teamwork! 

A delicious, fresh Cranberry Blue Cheese salad with balsamic vinaigrette! 

They did an outstanding job of decorating their new dining table which seats twelve. 

Cat, her Mom and Carrie had just reupholstered the dining chairs! 

They are simply stunning! 

The Grand Finale!

Last but certainly not least....our darling Mox with his

Dinosaur baby! A gift from Maine Grandma!

Mox is learning to trust and to play!

This is the most wonderful gift of all!