The house is quiet again and the world is picking up where it left us off for the holiday. Ours was lovely and full of the best gifts of all, love and happiness.
Decorating ~
and favorite foods ~
Mo's sweet potatoes roasted with honey and cinnamon.
An ongoing workshop of pretty gift wrappings ~
Erin carved potato stamps for kraft paper.
Maggie used her rubber stamps to turn paper bags into keepsakes.
Mo got out a big sharpie and made her own hand-lettered bw graphic on newsprint.
Andy gave up his usual blueprint wrapping, bought a giant coloring book from the craft store $1 bin and tore out the pages. His wrapping included boxes of crayons too.
The celebration and sharing ~
My cute mom had the best day, overwhelmed with love and gifts. Door #3 pretty much put her over the edge.
This year Andy made a book for each of the girls. It was the story of his secret recipe for clam chowder, a kitchen tradition he's shared with them since they were little. The dedication and page one intro had everyone in tears.
And it all finished up late into the night with Andy's Christmas birthday to celebrate too with family and friends.
How lucky we are to have each other!
That includes you, my friends. I hope it was a happy garland of days, each one a link to remind us of the joys and gifts a year strings together. xo
Hello Charlotte,
Love your post and photos!
Gabriela
Posted by: Gabriela | December 28, 2011 at 09:44 AM
I have sooo enjoyed following you these past few years. You have such a lovely & creative Family.
Your Christmas looked wonderfully perfect and may you be Blessed in 2012!
((I just adore the creative wrapping))
Posted by: sharron | December 28, 2011 at 01:03 PM
Belated Christmas Greetings! The glow from your home filled with joy, love, and laughter surely lit Santa's way. Thank you for sharing your world
Posted by: Jeannie | December 28, 2011 at 03:24 PM
Thank you for sharing your lovely day with us. Our Texas family had special quilts shared by my Mother this year. What a year to remember... Julie
Posted by: Julie Clark | December 28, 2011 at 07:26 PM
bless your heart for sharing such fun photos and so much inspiration my head is in a whirl! i love the idea of the wrap made from coloring book pages and the brown kraft wrap....i'm such a sucker for brown wrap. seems to have been a delightful holiday of creativity and love...oh an if you remember your drawing the the ME nutcracker book...i won, and debated how best to enjoy the book...i decided i would enjoy it best through my little friend (who i kept as a baby, now a big 10 years old) and gifted it to her...she was THRILLED....just THRILLED in more ways than one as she has writer aspirations! do pass that one to ME and tell her what a string of pleasure the book has brought...her in writing it and passing it to you for a giveaway...you in getting to give it away....me winning, and now a special little girl receiving it *signed* by the author encouraging her creativity in a way perhaps better than any other!
Posted by: sharon from farm and fru fru | December 28, 2011 at 09:30 PM
What a clever family. I love all of the different gift wrap ideas. The apple certainly doesn't fall far from the tree around the Lyons household. Thanks for sharing this special day!
Posted by: Nicki | December 30, 2011 at 04:22 PM