Merry Christmas friends! I know by this point everyone is nestled in after all the celebrations and hopefully still enjoying friends, families or peace on earth! But I didn’t want this Christmas to go by without an official Merry Christmas from our house to yours. We count you among our friends and thank you from the bottom of our hearts for following along with our adventures in creating a home and life. It means more to us than you know, so thank you.
While these are all just random snapshots from our phone and Instagrams, we thought we would share a few snippets of the day and evening with you.
Our little family is spending a quiet Christmas this year, all cozied up in our home. It’s been wonderful! Our kids took the ferry from Seattle to our neck of the woods. It does my heart good to see all three of my kids and our son-in-law back together again laughing and having fun.
The dogs are all together too, having a blast running around, grabbing animals from the tree, knocking more garland down, finding presents to open, basically causing all sorts of puppy mischief. Jack is the oldest at 3 and a half years old, so we have a lot of fluffy youngsters in our house. It’s awesome. :)
Santa always visits, but this year we actually caught him in the act, so now there is no doubt who fills our stockings (catch your Santa here).
We had a fun family White Elephant exchange that involved all of us going to the mall each with $25 and 45 minutes to find a surprise gift to exchange. We’ve also been enjoying making and eating delicious meals and drinking festive drinks like our Winter Cider Sangria.
All of our animal ornaments are now gathered together toward the top of the tree, feeling safe and protected against the dogs who would like to bring them down to play. We did have one other near casualty since The Unraveling, with a sweet bunny ornament that was rescued from the clutches of puppy jaws of death. Look at the top picture and you’ll see that bunny on the dish cabinet, quietly recovering. His tail was nearly detached, but he is ALIVE!
We are decorating gingerbread cookies today, just enjoying being together and making memories.
We love brewing the coffee and hanging out on the couch, it’s wonderful to not be in a hurry to go anywhere or do anything fancy.
Bella is very excited about her first Christmas. She’s having the time of her life with Jack and Lily!
We love to have Christmas tunes playing on our iPad, but our favorite is to listen to them live on the guitar. Courtney got a guitar for her birthday this year, she is a beautiful singer and my husband is a musician so we are blessed by their talents.
We keep gifts simple, but this year both of my girls got started on their own cookbook collections, these are two beautiful ones (Sunday Suppers and Plenty, and not pictured, another favorite The Forest Feast)! My oldest daughter Kylee is an amazing cook, she makes the most wonderful meals for us. I’m not sure how she got that talent. It was not from me heheheh.
Tonight we will gather around the dinner table, eat something yummy together and read the Christmas story from the Bible, each taking a part.
Then after our tummies and hearts are full, we’ll curl up on the big couch to watch Father of the Bride. Even though we’ve seen it dozens of times it never fails to make us laugh and cry. It’s our favorite.
A lovely post! xoxo
Thank you, friend. XO merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Thank you, Marilyn!! Merry Christmas to you!
Merry Christmas and thank you for sharing your family Christmas with us. We had a wonderful family Christmas too, the best after many dad events at recent Christmases.
Merry Christmas, Melissa. Have a blessed new year too. Xo, Faith
I love your blog and when I glanced at the photos of Christmas that you shared…I knew immediately that it was Seattle w/o even reading the caption! I had no idea you reside in the Seattle area. Our family lives in Bremerton! We love, love, love living in the beautiful PNW!
Now I will admire your blog even more knowing that we share the same beautiful living area!
Happy New Year from a favorite fan :)
Teri
Hi Teri! Sounds like we’re neighbors! I always love finding people who understand and love this area too :) Thank you for reaching out and Happy New Year right back to you!
So fun…thank you for sharing from your heart. What a blessing to read in the quiet of post-Christmas as the adult children of this house are still sleeping…bless you and yours <3
PS …. your dogs are adorable….
Thank-you Melissa for sharing the special moments of your Family’s Christmas with us. Your posts are a joy to read .
Many happy thoughts for you all for a Merry Christmas and may you be blessed throughout the New Year.
Peace & joy,
Penny
Hi Melissa, I enjoy reading all your posts and have been inspired by much more than your fantabulous style. Thank you for inviting us all in to share it with you. Merry Christmas!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas and the very best for 2015.
Love your posts and love those dogs! They make me smile each time you include them in your musings.
what a great holiday post looks like the four legged family members had a great time get some well needed rest merry Christmas from my family to yours Joanne Lola and daisy beagle
Merry Christmas to you! And the best of everything in the new year! So looking forward to another year together–always looking forward to your posts! Thank you!
I just loved this post! It looks like you and your family had a very special holiday. I’ve adored all the little touches you’ve incorporated in your home season after season. This Christmas decor is my favorite yet. Would you kindly share where you found the mirror above the chevron table in your dining room? I’ve been admiring it in your recent holiday posts!
Happy Holidays,
Christina
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE LOVELY PICTURES AND IDEAS YOU SEND. KNOW YOU AND YOUR FAMILY HAD A WARM, WONDERFUL HOLIDAY SEASON. HAPPY NEW YEAR.
P.S. Did you make the round mirror in the first photo? I LOVE IT!!
Love the casual photos and seeing how much sweet Bella has grown. You’re so brave to have all those pups in your house!!!
This year we traveled for Christmas and enjoyed several days “unplugged.” No snow in Michigan and seeing golfers on the golf course the day after Christmas was pretty amazing. Feels great after last year’s great chill and endless amounts of snow. Now to slide back into reality…hopefully slowly. ;)
A belated Merry Christmas Melissa! [[hugs]]
Looks like a beautiful, family-centered Christmas. (And how fun is your white elephant mall challenge?! Love it!)
Merry Christmas!
Merry Belated Christmas! I love your home…I haven’t blogged in a while, and I have redecorated my tree this year in a winter woodland theme pom poms and all. I’d say I was inspired by you, but I wasn’t. Glad we were thinking alike, though.
Happy new year to you and your family! May the year be filled with love and laughter coming down from our Father above!
Blessings! Michelle
Looks like a beautiful peaceful Christmas! Happy New Year to you and your family.
You are a bright spot in this world.
Happy Day