Merry Christmas!

It has been a wonderful Christmas celebration so far! Because of when Christmas fell this year and the fact I have to work on Monday, we decided to postpone Christmas with my parents until next weekend. And since our celebration with the Mitchells isn't until Sunday, Chris and I got to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning/early afternoon together.

This year we opened up one gift last night, one gift and stockings this morning and we'll give presents to one another at both set of parents' houses. I made Chris a pair of warm wool socks (I was really nervous about the fit, and while they are a little tight in certain places, now I know for future socks how I need to make them). Chris gave me an ornament with our adorable faces on it to commemorate our first married Christmas together :) Banjo got treats, which he carried around the house all evening long!



We watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation last night in true Christmas style and enjoyed the crackling fire. We also video-chatted with family. Good evening.

This morning we warmed up the pecan roll we got yesterday (yummy!) and opened up another gift and the stockings. A chipmunk fell into Banjo's stocking and couldn't get out until Banjo gently pulled it out this morning and proceeded to play with it, then kill it.

Chris got me the movie Watchman, which I'm really excited to watch again, but it's not quite Christmas material. I gave Chris an ornament I made to commemorate our first married Christmas together. I used leftover yarn from the shawl I made for the wedding (which few people saw because it was too warm to wear it), leftover beads from the bracelets I made and paper from our invitations. A fun keepsake. We're both really excited about our gifts to each other and can't wait to give each other the remaining ones!


I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

Snowified

Over the past month, I haven't had much to post about. I've been knitting constantly, working on Christmas gifts. Next year, I think I should work throughout the year! Besides that, there hasn't been much to blog about. Banjo doesn't spend much time outside since his paws get cold very quickly and he refuses to wear the booties.

Now I have something to write about: the snow. Our snow storm made the top headline on Google news yesterday. The worst since the Halloween blizzard some years ago (which I remember trick-or-treating in, snowmobile suit and all). This kind of snow storm makes me extremely grateful for (1) a garage, (2) a husband that shovels and (3) neighbors with snow blowers that graciously work their magic on the public sidewalks.

While I worked on Christmas gifts, Chris was outside shoveling, and shoveling, and shoveling some more. He worked on our pathways, he helped neighbors dig out their cars when they got stuck, he raked off our roof. He is amazing.

The wind was whipping around, covering the windows with the fine white powder. The snow was whirling everywhere all day long as evident by Chris's face:


This is the view out the front of our house this morning. It's difficult to tell where the snow ends and the sidewalks and streets begin.



This is from the front porch - part of the large pile of snow Chris raked from the roof and shoveled aside. Last night, the mound was directly on the sidewalk around the house and was about as tall as Chris.Out the back of the house, you will notice the fence got a lot shorter. Chris stomped down some pathways for Banjo to do his business. This morning, Banjo was outside all of two minutes because of the snow and the below zero wind chills.

There are lots of people outside this morning digging themselves out. I saw a truck towing several cars that got stuck on the street last night. I'm glad we have such helpful neighbors!