CHRISTMAS AT THE {PUCCI'S} 2012

 

On Christmas Eve I baked the Hoska (Sweet Bohemian bread) and I also went to a church service at 5pm. I was thrilled with the church I went to this year and will definitely be going back. Then when I got home Mark and I watched "White Christmas" and then I watched "It's a Wonderful Life" which I of course fell asleep to but that's okay. I did see it on the big screen not too long ago!

 

We were expecting Adam and Tristen between 1pm-2pm on Christmas day. I think they arrived closer to 2pm and we ate some Hashbrown Egg Nests and the Hoska. We actually didn't start opening presents until about 3pm since Amber still had gifts to wrap! The first thing we did was take pictures making sure I was in them too. Of course I had my new pajamas for the day, I had them all pressed and ready to go after my shower :)

 

Click to enlarge....

Then we had a moment of silence for those who were not as fortunate as we were and were missing some very precious loved ones this Christmas. Not just the families in Newtown, CT but everyone around the world living with grief in their hearts. Then we started opening presents and that went on for about 4 hours with some breaks for snacks and drinks. We actually ran out of time to have the Gingerbread House contest. It was a work day the next day and we still had to eat dinner. We ate around 8pm and the evening ended a little after 9pm. It was a blessed day and everyone loved their gifts. Of course Skye and Charlie had a great day too!

 

Those are our presents under the tree before Amber, Dylan, Adam & Tristen added theirs!!! We do one gift at a time, except for the dogs, they both need one at the same time or they will steal from the other. (or should I say Skye will steal from Charlie)

 

I didn't go out the day after Christmas but I ended up going out on Thursday to get some bags, boxes and bows. Also picked up some paper plates along with some other goodies for next year. I also needed to go to Kohl's to use my cash rewards that I had and found some things I couldn't possibly live without :)

 

Every day since Christmas Day I have been having my own movie marathon of Christmas movies. I had watched so many movies on Lifetime and Hallmark that I never found time to watch my collection of movies. So besides the ones I watch on Christmas Eve I also watched: The Family Stone, The Holiday, Fred Claus, This Christmas, The Family Man, One Magic Christmas, Prancer, Four Christmases, Christmas With the Kranks, Polar Express, The Santa Clause 1-2 & 3 and ended with Miracle on 34th Street even though I did see it on the big screen recently.  

 

Here are the decorated Gingerbread Houses. We ended up doing them on New Year's Eve. Normally it's just the kids doing them but since Adam & Tristen wouldn't be doing theirs Mark and I joined in but only for a short time. Amber & Dylan really worked on theirs for a long time and they came out so cute. I think Mark did his for about 20 minutes. Mark's is bottom left and mine is bottom right. We didn't do the sides and back like A & D did. (enlarge for better viewing)

 

 

This are gifts I received. I had shown Mark the Eiffel Tower ornament at Pottery Barn and also the mini glass ornaments from London so he bought them for me. I got some books I had asked for and some movies I've been wanting. Got the Pippa Middleton book too along with a popcorn maker and a skillet. (It's my first skillet) My sister got me the smaller Willow Tree piece and Amber bought me the larger Nativity at the after Christmas sale. She surprised me with that one on New Year's Eve!

 

 

So next week I will start to gather and take down our decorations. That should take at least all week for me. There are about 10 bins and 6 boxes to repack. Then the trees will be last. There are 8 ornament boxes for them. I may go ahead and leave the trees up a little longer depending on the time I have before our trip on the 17th. However, I never go past the latest date I've had my tree up which was February 5th one year. I had gotten pretty sick and just couldn't do it.

 

There is a new post at Debby's Tree with the remaining ornaments I bought this year. I didn't buy any ornaments after Christmas although Amber did buy one for me. I found it a bit different working on these two smaller trees, didn't get as much inside depth that I like. But I am happy with them. I just keep wondering what I will do when we retire and downsize. How do you get rid of precious collections when you have been buying them for over 40 years?

 

Have a wonderful weekend.....