On the “12th day of Christmas” Richard and I finished our morning coffee, then got busy storing away our Christmas decorations. I began packing Christmas treasures and memories…music boxes…wooden pyramids from Germany…feather trees…and angels, while Richard went outside and took the Christmas wreaths from the windows…stored away our manger scene…and carefully put Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus away for another year.
I’m so sorry I didn’t write any posts during the Christmas season. I started feeling ill, the last day of our family vacation in Branson, during the Thanksgiving break, and ended up getting really sick with the flu and pneumonia. That slowed our merry making down a bit, but not our joy of Christmas, or our grateful hearts.
And the Grinch, with his Grinch feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags. and he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more. ~ Dr. Seuss
I can’t tell you how much it meant to me every time I read one of your cards, or the messages you sent checking to see if I was okay . Your words were so heartwarming. Each message you took the time to send me and every prayer that was prayed, meant so much to me.
So despite the delay, I didn’t want to begin writing posts for 2023 without sharing the last of our 2022. There’s lots of pictures to look at, so get yourself a cup of good cheer and settle back for one more glimpse of Christmas.
Our Christmas season really began the week we took our kids and grandkids to Branson, Missouri. Christmas magic was already in the air with decorations and festivities, “making spirits bright” and our week seemed like a duo Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday!
The week was full of giggles and grins…
Cousin time…
Grandma’s Sweethearts busy and happy while the Thanksgiving Feast was cooking. (Sorry, the pictures I took inside the condo are a little dark, since I didn’t bring my ring light.)
Santa’s little elf
Sweet Son helping his Momma clean up after Thanksgiving dinner. (Look at our little grandson, with a load of toys in his arms and on his back, going to his bedroom!)
Game Nights…
Look at these expressions! There’s some serious game playing going on! (:
Dear daughter in law and tired little girl. Sweetness x 2*
Grandkids showing PaPa how to play a new game on the computer.
Christmas manicures for all the girls…
North Pole Toyland…
Dear daughter and granddaughter. Sweetness x 4 * (:
Family at the Shooting Gallery
Instructions from PaPa, the Expert Marksman.
Like Father, like daughter. (:
Dinners out…
Moon lit ice rinks
3 generations of smiles.
Christmas trees, decorations, and lights…
I was sick during the rest of the Christmas season, but a few days before Christmas we went to The Collin Street Bakery in Corsicana, Texas to buy some of their world famous fruitcakes. Everything looked and smelled so good in the bakery, we ended up buying iced raisin bread, a pecan loaf, a Jalapeño Cheese bread, and the fruitcakes we came for! Collin Street Bakery is a tourist stop and the charming bakery/café is filled with booths and bistro tables. Besides the breads and fruitcakes they sell, they serve coffee’s, sandwiches, soups, muffins, brownies, and all kinds of pastries. Richard and I sat at one of the booths and had a cup of coffee and munched on the delicious samples of fruitcake they gave us. Afterwards, we drove around historical old town Corsicana to look at the Christmas lights.
This beautiful blue Christmas tree was in historical “old town” Corsicana. The tree sits right in the middle of an intersection of the brick-lined streets. Merry volunteers, with stocking caps and mufflers were directing traffic around the grand tree the night we were there. It looked just like a scene from “Frosty the Snowman” where Frosty…“led them down the streets of town, right to the traffic cop. He only paused a moment when he heard him holler, “Stop!” (:
On Christmas Eve-Eve we have a tradition of all getting together for a family dinner, then going to see the Land of Lights. After dinner, with the added merriment of children excited to be out of school and only 2 more days until Christmas, we loaded up in 2 cars, grabbed some Reindeer Snack Mix to munch on, and headed to the nearby town of Athens.
Red, white, and blue Santa Claus and light display honoring our military. Land of the free, because of the brave. ❤
“Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
Then at last…Christmas at Cottage Green.
We bought this Christmas pyramid when we lived in West Germany from 1983 – 1986 when we were visiting one of our favorite towns, the medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in the Bavarian region of Germany. Angels, wise men, and shepherds circle around Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. The circling carousel is propelled by the heat from the candle flames.
HO HO HO vignette in the kitchen with pewter tray, tiny bundt cake pans, and depression glass
Little Tannenbaum
Kitchen cupboard filled with Old Curiosity Shop Green Transferware “Merry Old England, Charles Dickens.”
Feather branch Christmas tree decorated with wooden German ornaments.
Then…our family, the heart and magic of our Christmas. ❤
Our youngest Darling wearing her new Princess gown that Grandma and PaPa gave her for Christmas…cradling her new baby doll.
Dear Grandson “checking it twice.” A drone from PaPa and Grandma!
Precious granddaughter with her sweet smile.
“Through the years we all will be together.” ❤
“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a goodnight.”
Now, that I talked about the “Christmas Present” as Charles Dickens wrote in his novel, “A Christmas Carol” I want to talk about “Christmas Past”…way past, to the very first Christmas.
At the beginning of this post, I wrote, “Friday was the last and 12th day of Christmas.” Here is a interesting and historical fact about The Twelve Days of Christmas, and it’s not just about 12 drummers drumming and a partridge in a pear tree! (:
Most of us love this lilting Christmas song, but did you know that The Twelve Days of Christmas actually begin on Christmas Day, December 25th, and last through January 6th? These twelve days are believed to be the days it took for the Magi, or 3 wise men, to travel to Bethlehem after the birth of Jesus and are historically known as The Twelve Days of Christmas or…Twelvetide.
"...they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh." Matthew 2:9-11
I get a thrill whenever I visualize that blessed event! What awe and reverence the Magi must have felt when they finally saw Baby Jesus on that first Twelvetide! The gifts they brought of gold, incense, and myrrh, though extravagant and costly, must have seemed suddenly worthless when they realized this Baby was the Son of God…Jesus…Immanuel, “God with us.”
The very first Christmas present ever given was given to you…to me…to everyone…from God Almighty; the gift of eternal life! Don’t let another Christmas season pass and a new year start without opening your last and best present!
I have so many things I love writing and telling you about, but this is the most important thing I could ever write about in my blog. I don’t want YOU to miss opening the gift the Lord has given us. Please write me if you have any questions, or if you would like me to pray with you.
From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda
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Cottage Green on the Lake 