My 12 Days of Christmas Book

Journaling: Let it Snow{readmore}, Santa Baby, Feliz Navidad, Last Christmas, Happy Christmas, Home for the Holidays (I just had to pick 6)

then the lyrics from Home for the holidays are all around the sticker in the middle.

2- I think that I would choose last year because it was the first year that I could watch Eliana really enjoy her presents. However, I think that this year and other upcoming years might be even better!

 3- hot bread dip, snickerdoodles, gingerbread houses, rolled sugar cookies, buttery drop cookies -- I guess my favorite is the hot bread dip because it is warm and cheesy and just reminds me of the holidays and everything cozy about them.

4-I hope that they get the same warm fuzzies about the whole holiday experience that I do. I enjoy everything from shopping to baking, to giving and receiving gifts. I hope they enjoy those things too. I also hope that they get a similar sense of wonder and a feeling of magic when they gaze upon a lit Christmas tree in the dark. Finally, I hopw that they are able to understand my wishes for peace and unity in our family and the world at large and integrate both parts of their heritage into a personal expression of all those traditions.

5- family, friends, lights, decorations, magic, fires in the fireplace, cheery music on the radio, baking, cooking, laughing, singing, pajamas, french toast, bacon, gifts.

6 - (hidden under the photos and number 6) I have lots of special ornaments because I try to buy a new one every hyear and often when we go on vacation. Most of the ornaments on our tree have a story. I guess the best one is the first - the blown glass bird with a feather tail that we got in Disney World, the year I turned 21, before we were engaged. Seth thought I was crazy to try to take it home on the plane but I just loved it and had to have it. Then of course there is the dated ornament from our first Christmas married, and from Eliana's first Christmas. And this year I added a starbucks ornament to commemorate Ellie's love of steamed milke which she calls 'coffee'.

7. Miracle on 34th Street, Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer, how the grinch stole Christmas.

8- I think the most meaningful gift is the one that never came. I was expecting and engagement ring from Seth and was very disappointed when all the gifts had been opened and still there was no ring. As it turns out, he was trying to be unpredictable and proposed two days later and we picked out the ring together.

9- I love the twinkling lights on the tree and the house. The lights just make me feel the joy of the season deep down inside. When I was a kid, we didnt put up lights on the house because there was no one to see them. Now that I live in a neighborhood, I love putting up lights!

10 - I wish I could say that I fondly remember unwrapping that coveted Cabbage Patch Doll or Strawberry Shortcake. Unfortunately, my memory isnt that good. I remember things more in glimses and feelings. I remember my homemade stocking hanging on my dresser. I remember explaining to my little sister just how it IS possible that santa exists. I remember bounding onto my parents bed to open our stockings. I remember that magical feeling when I first saw the piles of gifts that santa had left.

11 - My favorite holiday tradition is definitely opening one present on christmas eve (PJs). I remember this tradition farther back than any other. And I love picking out that special pair for Ellie.

12 - this year will be the first year of a new tradition. Instead of having a party at my parents' house on Christmas Eve and going to Grams' house on Christmas Day, we will spend Christmas Eve with Grams, Gramps, Matt. Lindsay. Nana, Pop and of course, the kids. Then on Christmas Day we will have a relaxed day with Nana and pop, giving the kids time to play with their gifts.