A Kind of Post Christmas!

It's December 27th but I still have another Christmas Celebration to go! My #1 son will be visiting with his family on New Year's Day this year! I'm looking forward to that visit, it will be good to see Bob, J.R., Izzie and Feather again! I can see in pictures how much the girls have grown, and talk to them on the phone - but there's nothing like seeing them in person!

Even though many wonderful and happy things happened this year, over all, for me it was a sad one, and I am looking forward to seeing the end of it - and MOVE ON!!! One of the things Paul and I do each year is to put little notes of "Good Things That Happened Today" in a mason jar. Reading them on New Year's Day has become a new tradition for us.

This is the mason jar where we add the good things notes.

  I think I will spend some time this week and try to remember more of the good things that happened this year I missed. Usually, we have more notes than room in the jar by the end of the year; this year, there is lots of room for more.

One thing I do to lift my spirits each year is to regard my Christmas tree and think of all the decorations. I've had a smaller tree for the past several years, and one of the things I like to do is fill it with hand-made decorations. Not all the decorations are made by me, but most of them, by me and people I love.

This lamb on my tree was made by a wonderful lady who has now gone to be with Our Lord. I love to stuff it in my tree, it reminds me of her as well as why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. The crocheted ice skates I made with a pattern given to me by my late Mother-in-law. Even though I made them myself, I think of her when I look at them.

You can't see the body of the elephant I have stuffed in the tree, but it is considered a gift of love. In my family, the first gift my father gave my mother, was a toy elephant. Every year, my parents would bring it out, and put it under the tree. By the time my sister and I realized the meaning of the toy, we had it "played out". Every year we would play with it, it was a mechanical toy, and when wound up would walk and nod it's head and tail up and down. By the time we grew up, the trunk and tail were just a piece of bare wire! The first Christmas I was married, I found a pattern to make a stuffed elephant for my tree. Each year I remember the love my parents shared, by placing my elephant in a place of honour in my tree.

Christmas day was a good one here. Paul and our dog, Tom had a good time. Tom was not sure why he was getting so many toys at once, but he was happy in the end. He did not like the hedgehog - it made a funny noise.

My friend, Moonchild came over to share Christmas dinner, and we watched a movie before she headed for home. Not too busy, but a good day.

I hope and pray your Christmas celebrations were wonderful, and may the year 2016 bring you joy and fulfillment.

Blessings, and have a wonderful day

Phoebe Brown