Christmas starts with love

Our Christmas season starts the weekend after Thanksgiving.  That's when we head to our favorite Christmas tree field and pick out our tree.  We've been buying our tree from the same man for many years.  He has beautiful trees, he's very friendly, and it's just the perfect start to our holiday season.  This year, however, our holiday season started sooner than normal.  Kristal and Jake bought a new home that came with a fireplace.  The seller took the mantel with them, so they were in need of a mantel.  Lucky for them Jon is a very talented and skilled carpenter!  He wanted to make a mantel that would have meaning.  First he decided on where the wood was going to come from.  We have belonged to a "dog" club for over 30 years and there was the perfect tree that needed to be cut down on the property.  Kristal grew up spending many, many hours on this property so it was perfect to get the wood from there.  One day this Fall Jon and Jake headed to the dog club property and cut the tree down.  Next on the list was to get this tree planed into wood that could be used.  It just so happens that the man we buy our Christmas trees from also runs a sawmill!  This man loves our daughter and is always so excited to see her each year.  Another point of "perfectness" for this mantel.  Jon picked the wood up from the sawmill and turned it into a beautiful mantel which he got hung on the fireplace just in time for Christmas! 


                   


Kristal  was so happy to have this finished and up in time for Christmas decorating.  I don't have a photo of that, but it is beautiful!  This was truly a project of love.


Yesterday was the start of our Christmas celebrations.  Jon's cousin hosts a Christmas party every year and it's always a great time spent with dear friends and relatives.  There is always so much good food that it's impossible to sample it all.  A few drinks are always consumed as well.  Yesterday morning I received a text from Barb - "Call me when you're up."  Uh oh.  That sounded like there was a problem!  Sure enough - it has been raining here and their basement was full of water.  That meant that their family room was wet and unavailable for the party.  She wanted to know if I thought she should cancel the party or would it not even matter that everyone would have to be crammed into their dining and living rooms.  I voted to go ahead with the party.  We all like each other!  The party was still on! 


Today is technically not a Christmas celebration - but it is a celebration with people we love.  Our Mexican friends and us get together every year and enjoy a Thanksgiving meal, complete with all the traditional trimmings.  That meal is today.  We'll have turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie...  


We have many more gatherings to attend and host and each one will create more memories of time spent with those we love.  I look forward to this season and all the special times with family and friends.  To each and every one of my AllRecipes friends I wish a Merry Christmas to you!