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Saturday, January 2, 2016

Christmas 2015 (and Happy New Year!)

Happy 2016 everyone! 
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, holiday and New Year this season. 
Christmas for me went by in a whirlwind this year!  The first week in December we were on vacation in Florida, so I guess it felt like we sort of missed a week of Christmas prep while we were there.  The day after we got home, we went out to get our Christmas tree and decorated it a few days later. 


Every year, I say the same thing, "This is our prettiest tree, yet." And it always seems to be.


We're a tinsel type of family. :)




Our manger is one of the best parts of our our decorations.  My Dad built the stable when he was in high school and his sister, my aunt, made and painted the ceramic figures. This was the manger we grew up with and I'm glad I was the one who got it! ;)


Waiting for Baby Jesus to be born. 




This was a little vintage ice-skating village we had when I was young.  Did any of you have this? I love it..it always reminds me of Christmas.

 Whoops, man down..


 My mother-in-law gave us this cool retro aluminum pom-pom tree with a rotating color wheel.  So 60s, so great!



Jessie the Elf was back again with her silly antics!  Although there were a few times when I was pretty much tucked in bed and then realized I forgot to set her up for the morning.  Kind of glad that part is over, haha, but Pumpkin Pie loved it.  Each morning, getting her up for school was much easier. :)  Little Button was a little unsure, lol. 

Christmas Eve was really fun.  I had the day off for the first time in 3 years and we hosted it at our house like we did last year.  We just did it "tapas style" to make it easier and we had a ton of food.







I am usually always the last one up on Christmas Eve.  I love the quiet and calmness and realize that most of the hard work is done.  I always love to reflect on the history of Christmas Eve and the birth of Jesus.






Luckily the girls slept until 7 so Merry Christmas to us. :) 



My sister and brother as well as their significant others spent the night and we had our traditional coffee and cinnamon buns while opening gifts.

 Fozzie got a lot of attention. 

The girls were absolutely thrilled with their little mermaid tails they received.  I ended up getting them a cheaper version of a "Fin Fun Mermaid Tale" as they are still little and would be mostly using them for playing OUT of the water.  They had these things on constantly and flapped their tails all around the house.  Definitely a great gift idea for any little girl in the 3-6 year old range!


Here's a look a few new ornaments we added to our tree this year.  I couldn't resist the Disney Princesses as they were on sale!   The beautiful mermaid one was a gift from my sister.





For Christmas dinner, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house who live right up the road.  We had a nice time visiting with my mom's side of the family and I ate and drank A LOT.  I can't believe how much crap I ate over the course of 2 days! I enjoyed every minute, though. :)








What was really special about this Christmas is that all of my siblings and their significant others were there together.  Three of us live locally, but one of my brothers lives in Florida and sometimes it can be hard for them to take time off during the holidays.  We were so glad to be together!



The day after Christmas was very relaxing as we had no where to go and nothing planned.  We stayed home in our PJs most of the day and the girls played with their new toys. They played all day with their mermaid fins, new OG dolls and diner, did crafts and playdoh-it was great! 

And the house was already clean...#bestpart ;) 




This thing is so awesome. 



Once Christmas is over, I feel like I can fully relax again.  I try not to get stressed out, but it always seems to be a bit of a crunch to get things done and cram all the festive stuff I want to get in, in on time.  But this year I reminded myself that it all doesn't have to get done by Christmas Day.  The Christmas season, for me, really extends into January (and as long as I can drag it out, really, haha) and I can still watch my Christmas movies, listen to Christmas music, do festive crafts and especially enjoy the decorations and tree for a bit longer.






Now it's a brand new year!   New Year's Eve was spent at home with my sister and her financĂ© as well as my long time friend and her boyfriend who where home visiting from Oregon.
It was low-key with lots of snacks, apple wine and hard apple cider.

This year, I really just hope to feel good and appreciate as much as I can in each day and find the positives in every moment.  I feel like if we focus on that, the rest falls into place.

Happy New Year to you all.  See you soon, here in blog-land. :)
xoxo Farrah 

18 comments:

  1. Oh my I just love your Christmas tree and all the fabulous decorations. So much to look at and admire in this post. Sounds like you had a really lovely Christmas indeed.

    Happy New Year!

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    1. Thanks, Serenata! I love decorating for Christmas...I love all the lights and colors, I can't help myself. Between my parents and my husband's parents, we've had so many decorations handed down to us! We did have a lovely Christmas. Happy New Year!

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  2. Your decorations look awesome! Growing up, my family was really big on the tinsel too. We just threw it all over the tree! It looks like your girls had a wonderful day too. I am glad that you are teaching them the true meaning of Christmas. These days, even the government is trying to get the Christ out of Christmas. Have a wonderful year and I look forward to seeing more of your awesome photos in the future!

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    1. Lol, the girls totally just threw the tinsel all over the tree...especially LB...she just threw big handle fuls of it on the lower half. They love the story of the birth of Jesus and it's always been a big part of Christmas Eve for me growing up as well. :) Thanks for the nice words about my photos!!

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  3. Happy New Year! Love the retro decorations, especially the silver tree. My first grade teacher had a huge one of those in our classroom and I remember thinking it was the most beautiful tree I had ever seen. Of course, I was only 6!

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    1. So cute! I can imagine all these trees were all the rage at one time. My mother-in-law loved to collect retro items and since she moved this year, she gave a ton of stuff to us, which was really fun to have!

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  4. Beautiful post! I love your Christmas trees, and the Disney Princesses ornaments :-). I hope the same things as you for this year, and also lots of fun with our doll hobby :-). Happy New Year! xxx

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    1. Thanks, Linda!! This year I'm going to try to enjoy the dolls I have and narrow down my collection more instead of spending money (which I should be saving!) on hordes of dolls. We'll see how it goes! Happy New Year to you, too. xo

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  5. Happy New Year Farrah, thanks for sharing you wonderful pictures and a glimpse or your fabolous Christmas.
    I LOVE your decorations, you created a great atmosphere!

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    1. Thanks billa!! I love decorating for Christmas and making these colorful and cozy! We had a lot of fun this year as my mother-in-law gave us a TON of stuff since she was moving from her house into a small apartment. Some of the stuff I keep up through the winter because the colors and lights make me feel better. :)

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  6. Hi Farrah, thanks so much for sharing your Christmas with us, I'm glad that the girls got such wonderful gifts from Santa....they were obviously very good little girlies this year! ;)
    Your home is decorated beautifully, I always feel that Christmas in the US is a great time to be there, we've spent Christmases in Florida and a couple in New England, and you have some excellent decorations over there! LOL.
    I have been so busy over Christmas that I've not blogged but did take some photos of my decorations, but because it was so sunny and warm here I took photos of the beach too.....maybe I'll share those instead, as my decor certainly pales into insignificance against these gorgeous photos.
    Happy New Year! xxx

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    1. Thanks, Sharon!! The stores are absolutely crazy here during Christmas. I feel like stuff was being put up around Halloween this year. I think you're right in that we really go crazy decorating. :) I would love to see your beachy Christmas photos when you get a chance! Our Christmas Eve day ended up reaching 70 degrees this year so it felt like we could've gone to the beach, lol. :) Happy New Year to you too! xo

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  7. Enjoyed reading your blog..looks like you had a wonderful Christmas

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  8. Oh wow, you really outdid yourself with the Christmas decorations - they look fabulous and so very festive! And your photos of it all are wonderful too.

    And your tree looks enormous! It must have been a challenge to get it into the house (but the results are worth it).

    All the best for 2016!

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    1. We totally outdid ourselves, JS! My husband's parents both gave us all of their old decorations both this year and last so we have SO MUCH STUFF now it seems like. It's a bit overwhelming but we seemed to find a spot for most everything. The tree DOES look really big in those photos, lol. I think my husband just sort of dragged it in and threw it up in the tree stand (had to chop off some at the top, of course.) They always look so much smaller when they are outside!
      Best wishes for you as well in 2016!

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  9. your decorations and tree, and creche are just lovely. So much to see. What a wonderful Christmas and I bet you all enjoyed the OG Diner! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

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    1. Thank you, Lisa! Yes, they really did enjoy that little diner. That was their "big gift" this year and they loved all the little donuts, coffee, meals they could serve everyone. They had a blast taking down everyone's "orders." It was a great addition to the doll horde (collection!)
      Thank you for your kind compliments and Happy 2016 to yoU!

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