Merry Christmas!

It has been a whirlwind of activity this past week preparing for Christmas and working long hours at work.  I also visited the Dufferin Piecemakers quilt guild on Monday night to do a trunk show.  It was a fun evening, with a pot luck supper, a lovely visit with my chauffeur Mary Lynne, and lots of beautiful quilts to see at Show and Tell. There was such so much generosity evident at this meeting with pillowcases and quilts being given to a local shelter, placemats made for Meals on Wheels, and donations collected for the Food Bank.
I haven't had any time for quilting which usually results in me feeling crabby and unsettled, but I have tried to enjoy every quilt-less day leading up to Christmas, and trust that everything that needs to get done, will get done, and reminding myself that there will be lots of time to sew after Christmas!
Last night we enjoyed a lovely Christmas Eve with a walk in the park to see the light displays. It was so cold that even the hot chocolate didn't warm us up!
For the first time in 18 years, I was organized enough that I didn't have to spend most of Christmas Eve wrapping presents, nor did I stay up late helping Santa stuff stockings! I enjoyed a lovely evening with my family, walking at the park and then watching "It's a Wonderful Life".
This year my homemade gift to my nieces and nephews (and children, parents, and mother-in-law) was a photo calendar. I buy the spiral bound photo calendars from Michael's and for each month I tape on a different photo of the person the gift is for. I think that is quite an amazing accomplishment for me as a photographer... that I have taken at least 12 shots of each of my nieces and nephews in this past year! Some are group shots of course and the best shots show up in every family members' calendar, but most are unique photographs of each child. I made 19 calendars and with 12 photos per calendar, that was about 230 photographs I located on discs and printed out. The calendar for my Dad is made of old family photos from our growing up years (shown in the photo). The one for my Mom is all grandchildren shots from this year. It was a wonderful way for me to prepare for Christmas by reviewing all the fun things we have done together as an extended family this year.
And now, the presents are already unwrapped, the cinnamon buns I made for breakfast are gone, the turkey is cooking in the oven, and the kids are playing Rock Band. As soon as I am finished on the computer I will set the table for 11 guests, and start peeling potatoes and preparing vegetables.
I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas!