These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things : Yuletide : Day Twelve

This was one of those days when it was a true pleasure to wake up with the sun, as there was actual golden sun gleaming through the trees and in through our windows, which was most welcome after a long stretch of gray days. With family arriving at noon, we got busy in the kitchen preparing the ham, potato leek soup, more Yule bread and filling cookie boxes for family to take home with them. With everything ready ahead of time, I grabbed my camera because the sunlight was so beautiful, and I went around snapping the house, singing carols and fluffing pillows, as needed. Doing so, I was gratified to see our treasures, amassed over two decades (and longer if you count the things from both my and Alex's childhoods), that help us mark the season, looking so sweet and lovely through my camera lens. The painting by my mother, the glove finger puppets from my childhood, the snowflakes our children cut (three to a window), my new Santa and Reindeer, our basket of Yule books that keeps being added to, the paperwhites in the American pottery, and the hundreds of special ornaments that adorn our tree. Later, it was family, gathered in the kitchen, and then at the table, and eventually around the tree to exchange gifts. These are a few of my favorite things. This our Yuletide, may we always keep it well.