Tis the season...

Christmas was absolutely delightful! Our house was decorated with a 'Winter Wonderland' theme (thanks to my sisters!)...everywhere you looked you saw shades of blue inter-mingled with silver and white! I cannot wait for next year...it's going to be even bigger and better (yes Jared, that's right!). The Hannukah decor blended in beautifully too!

Christmas Eve my parents came into town and Jared's family came over for dinner. We had our traditional Christmas dinner - gluten free and all :) The beef wellington was delicious and was cooked to perfection!...thanks Dad for helping me with that ;) I was super nervous about making the hollandaise, but it turned out great...the second time that is. The first time was basically lemony eggs. Tamara came over the day before and helped me make GF Christmas Tree and Star of David sugar cookies. They were to die for...they were even yummier than they looked, and they looked good! My mom did the rest of the baking since I did the cooking... OMG did we have desserts GALORE! I don't know what we're going to do with all of the left overs since we're all sugared out!!!...we'll try freezing and see how that goes.

The table looked glorious with the Versace Barocco place settings...I LOVE my fine china and look for any occasion to whip it out! The gold glittered in the light while the Waterford crystal shimmered brilliantly. I should have taken a picture...I always forget to do that!

We were going to wrap up the evening with Midnight Mass (which is my favorite mass to go to), but unfortunately, Midnight Mass was actually at 10:00...who would have guessed? So, the next morning after opening gifts, Jared, my parents, and I went to the 9:00 service instead. Services were tricky to get to since it had snowed all day on Christmas Eve and the roads were icy, but luckily my Indiana born and raised parents did the driving and got us there safely. The church looked beautiful too - simple and classic. I did get choked up a couple of times thinking about the special day and listening to the readings. I just love Christmas!

On the drive home we enjoyed the white-tipped trees and snow-covered earth. The freshly-fallen snow was the very best present we received that day aside from Jesus' birth...there's nothing like a White Christmas. And speaking of presents...I could hardly wait to open our stockings!!!! That is the very best part of presents you know! Most of all, I was excited about Jared opening his...yes, my Jew got a Christmas stocking too. This year, I looked extra hard for my hubby and found all sorts of Jewish-based items to fill it. He received three Hannukah puzzles, a Star of David game, and my personal favorite, Hebrew Sudoku!!! I was SO excited!!!! Of course, this ups the ante for next year, making it even more challenging than usual. I better start looking now for stuff! :)

All-in-all it was a perfect Christmas! Loved everyone coming over and sharing the holiday with family...what more could a girl ask for?