December's Here and It's Flying By Already!

S-L-O-W down!  Where's this month going to... it's already the 5th, less than 20 more days til Christmas and I'm not ready!  It sure comes and goes quickly as you get older, doesn't it?!  I did get the house decorated this week, trees and all, which is excellent but I still have a lot of shopping left, cookies to bake and some crafty projects to complete before the big day arrives. 


Today I've really been getting in the spirit by listening to a ton of holiday music!  I have acquired my dad's vast collection of religious Christmas music, and when I say "vast" that could quite possibly be an understatement, lol!  See, Christmas was most certainly my dad's favorite time of the year and he loved everything about it.  He loved decorating, and he was perfectly content to start and complete all the decorating by himself while my mom and I and others would brave the Black Friday madness!  After a long, draining day of shopping, walking through the front door was always a beautiful site to behold!  Anyway, getting back to the music, I have found that it is now one of, if not my most  favorite part of the holiday season.  I have discovered that listening to the music he was passionate about is what draws me closest to my dad during this time of year, and I am so glad that I have his collection to love and enjoy!  I find myself listening to some of his favorite songs over and over again.  He loved, "Once In Royal David's City"  and, "In The Bleak MidWinter".... I can remember him telling me that those were his favorites, so now when I play these tracks, I imagine that he's beside me in the room listening.  And sometimes his presence feels so strong that my heart just crumbles all over again.  This will be our second Christmas without him, and it just doesn't feel right.  I really hope that he and our baby girls can feel our celebration of Christmas in Heaven and that they can sense how much they are all missed! 

Before I head out of here, thought I'd post some photos from last week's Thanksgiving dinner...  it was very good, as I didn't have to cook the turkey, lol!  My sister in law and brother hosted, but Christmas will be at our house again... minus the turkey!  I'll be making my signature Mushroom Chicken and Wine and I can't wait!   Here's my full plate...

Here we are enjoying an after dinner glass of wine... or two!

Here's my two crazy loons, my niece and my DH...

Do you think maybe they ate too much turkey?  I think so!!

Here's a better picture of them...

and one of her and I ...

Her 20th Birthday was the day after Thanksgiving!  I still can't believe that she's that old because it doesn't seem possible!  I feel so old :( 

I made her a card... she's into music and likes guitar and now she's all about tattoos too (she has 2 small tatts now).  So I created this one for her...

I think she thought it was cool!   Yep... it was a great day to be full AND thankful!  Hope that yours was too!