Christmas Decorations 2022

Our tree is the same fake tree we’ve had the last couple of years. This year I held back and only put a few ornaments on it.

I was supposed to hang a couple starts on those exposed nails that fit the other artwork we have up in this space the rest of the year. Oops.

We bought this ornament from Blenheim Palace this past September.

We had another several inches of snow over the weekend. Thankfully the snow has ceased for a while. If our grands come over we’ll have to watch them carefully so they don’t get lost in a snow drift! They love the snow!

We’ve received several cards already and our cards are being mailed today. I always feel relieved when I drop those down the mail slot!

How are preparations in your corner coming?

The Halls are Decked…

Deck the halls with boughs of holly,

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Isaiah 9:6

There are a few other spots in our home that are decorated for Christmas but I failed to take photos of them. It’s always fun to ‘Deck the Halls’.

Today I’m happy to say I’m headed to the Post Office in town to mail off our Christmas Greetings for 2021. Next up is considering what to bake and when to wrap.

Fly away little letter, keep the bond of friendship strong,

may the Lord lead and guide you, and keep you from all wrong.

No Place Like Home

Today is the 5th and last Monday for No Place Like Home hosted by Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage. Thank you, Sandi, I’ve enjoyed this weekly blog carnival.

Today I have some more of our Christmas Decor to share.

The vintage angels and Santa and Mrs. Claus were my mother-in-law, Verna’s that got passed down to us.

The hanging wreaths and stars were made by our sons in Sunday School when they were little tykes.

These mugs belong to our three children. I can’t remember what year I purchased them but probably the late 80’s.

Four more days if I’m counting correctly. I’m tidying up the bungalow and getting the guest rooms ready for Christmas Day. The only things left to purchase are food items for our meals to have on hand. We already bought our Rib Roasts and I’ll be roasting root veggies plus brussels sprouts and we can’t forget the creamed corn and Yorkshire Pudding. Haven’t decided on dessert yet.

We are on our way to Spokane today (70 miles south) for the last of our shopping. Heading to the Ukrainian Market (Kiev) and Costco to name a couple stops. I’ll visit blogs later tonight.

Hope all is Merry and Bright at your home.

No Place Like Home #3

This Monday the 7th of December for No Place Like Home hosted by Sandi at Rose Chintz Cottage, I’m sharing some of our Christmas decorations. Thank you Sandi!

Our front door and the entry to our home.

We have a variety of nativity sets in different areas in our home.

This mini wooden set was the first one we bought at Disneyland in the early 80’s. I bought it so our little ones could play with it with no fear of breakage.

This one is for our grands, Addy and JJ to play with.

Can you see the white metal nativity up at the top above the door on the entry window ledge?

All the decorations that are going up at our place are up now. I’ll share the tree and ornaments next week.

Today we are in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and we’ll be driving back to Colville in Washington State. I won’t be able to come around to visit blogs until tomorrow.

Christmas 2019

This is the very first nativity set that we bought for our family back in the nineteen eighties. We bought it in a Christmas shop at Disneyland in Anaheim. It’s wooden and we wanted something the kids could handle.

We’ve added a few more Nativity sets in the last few years. I wait for the after Christmas half price sales.

The manger and babe are from Verna’s stash (Dear’s mother). Don’t know the history but I like to pair it with these newer wise men.

Addy is a lot more interactive with this Fisher Price Nativity this year than she was last year. She had all the figures lined up in a row the other night when they were here for dinner. I was keeping a close watch on her mobile little brother so didn’t get a photo of the line. It made me smile real big.

Another vintage piece from Dear’s mother is the Santa and his reindeer.

This year I bought some little crafting clothespins and am using these wall pieces that decorate the entry all year round for our Christmas cards. I’m pleased with how it is working.

Our outdoor space is lit up with stars.

Now all I need to do is to wrap the gifts. Addy looked at our tree the other night and asked, “Baba, where are the presents?” I told her they would soon be under the tree.

Arise and shine, thy Light is come,
O humankind, O Christendom;
Thy glory and thy peace is here;
The Savior of the world draws near.

Christmas 2018

A fair warning. This will be a photo overload post.

Welcome to our Country Christmas Bungalow.

We decked the halls…

The Sunday before Christmas we had an open house and our Daughter-in-law’s family helped us start off our Christmas celebrations.

My next post will be a photo overload of Christmas day when our kids from the West arrived for our 2018 family Christmas!

Christmas Past Mosaics

2013 Nativities. I’ve gone a little overboard adding 5 more nativity sets since 2013.

2014 Joy is always a strong theme at Christmas time.

2015

2016

2017: Our most delightful Christmas addition.

These are all mosaics made with Picasa on my good ole laptop that died in November. I’m still looking for a program to create mosaics/collages on my new computer.

Our little Addy has changed so much since last Christmas.

December 2018

And for context, below was our view on our way to church this morning. We had a couple of inches of snow overnight that turned to rain while we were in church so now everything is pretty slushy.

Linking up with Angie for Mosaic Monday. Thank you for hosting, Angie!

Only 9 days until Christmas! Are you ready? We don’t have our tree up yet.

Be Merry…

Things have finally settled down enough in our kitchen renovations so I could start decorating for Christmas.

I’ve acquired a few new nativity sets over the last few years. I’ve had a conversation with myself and have agreed to not purchase any more.

Looks like the theme this year at this old house is to Be Merry!

You can see my neighbors lights out the window. They really light up the night! We have not purchased our Mystery Tree yet.

My extra motivation for decorating was our small group Christmas Appetizer potluck. I made Lovella’s Cocktail Sausage Wreath again.

I’ve been real slow in catching up with visits to blogs. I hope to come by soon.

Slowly and surely with long work days things are getting done. The kitchen backsplash is all done and the last thing to do is the new trim around the window above the sink.

Mystery Tree 2016

This year while I was having fun downtown with our oldest, Dear did the honors of picking out the mystery tree and bringing it home. He set it up in it’s designated spot this year and waited for me to come home from gallivanting and to cut the string while I watched the reveal. Another stress free tree that will serve our purposes well.

Dear put the lights on and then I added the ornaments.

This will be the room that we discover what things are in our stockings and where we open the gifts from under the tree. This year our immediate family decided to draw names instead of buying gifts for each one. Dear is unemployed and has been unemployed for 6 months now. Our daughter Katie and Andrew are not employed. Andrew is going to school full time in Aeronautical Engineering courses at the University of Washington and Katie hasn’t found a part-time job yet. Dan and Jamie are moving into a new to them house right now. They are financially stretched and with the new baby coming Jamie will be quitting her job and staying home with our new granddaughter. Josh and Laura are still both employed and doing well. We all decided it makes sense to cut down on the gift buying. We will still have a wonderful celebration but with less wrapping paper to deal with.

Hope you are all in the midst of joy and wonder during this great time of the year. If not I hope you find that joy and wonder soon.

The Wonder of it all…

O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.

Hope you are enjoying the Wonder of Christmas and the Wonder of it all…

I’m linking up to ABC Wednesday started by Mrs. Nesbitt and now her elves are working hard keeping us on track.

I’m heading to downtown Seattle today for the Seattle Sounders Victory Parade and Rally. Hope my nose doesn’t freeze and fall off. Our deck is a sheet of ice right now. No snow or rain is forecast so that is good.

The Happy Wonderer ~ ellen b.

To honor and encourage

Tag Archives: Christmas Decorations