santa baby . . .

Hello, I'm so glad you're here!  (Who am I kidding??  I'm so glad *I'M* here!  Hahaha!)  

Welcome, welcome to the first post of the annual Online Advent Calendar, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching! Each day she'll update the source post to reveal the day's guest poster!  It's loads of fun and a wonderful way to count down to Christmas, stitchingly!  Every year, Jo chooses a theme—this year it's Santas—and asks her bloggers to share a theme-related tidbit, and a Christmas stitching! And this year, I'm very honored to be December 1; Day ONE!  So on to it!

I've been a Santa-lover my whole life.  In other words, I still believe.  :)  I used to have an extensive collection of Santas of all sorts, shapes, and sizes, but when we moved from the house to the RV, I pared down a lot, and have continued to do so over the last fourteen years that we've been fulltime RVers.  Still, I have my very first Santa, who's nearly as old (aka "vintage") as I am . . .

Isn't he beautiful?! I also have two beautiful Jim Shore Santas, but would you believe, I haven't decorated yet?  I'm saving that for this weekend!  So they're not out to take a photo of, to share.

We also have lots of Santa traditions in our family.  For example, there's the visit to go see Santa.  Joc has done that with her kiddos from Ellie's first year . . .

Ellie and Santa 2012

Ellie (with Sawyer) and Santa 2013. Love Sawyer's holding his ears!

Merkel Girls and Santa 2014

Merkel Girls and Santa 2015

Merkel Girls and Santa 2016

These just get more hilarious as they go. My-oh-my, what a handful they were with him!  And he was the best, most patient, and hilarious Santa ever!  This year they took everyone including Ezra, and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it sure wasn't this . . .

Merkel Family and Santa 2023

All I can think of is that Ezra equates men with dark beards to his dad, and men with white beards to his Pawpaw!  LOL!

On Christmas Eve, one of our favorite traditions is to go down to the main circle through Joc's community, and catch Santa coming through on the fire truck!!  

The kids (and this adult, as well) are delighted by this charming service (check out Edith's rapt little face)!

Then there's always the Galaxy of Lights tour at our local Botanical Gardens.  I've done the walking tour the last couple of years, and it's so much FUN to see all the lights and special effects!  But my favorite display is—yeah, you guessed it—Santa and his sleigh!

I think an elf is holding the reigns while Santa slips down the chimney!!

I gave a lot of thought to what I'd share Christmas stitching-wise in this post.  To be honest, other than this cross-stitched tree I shared in August . . .

And this 2008 BOM Christmas Quilt that I finished and shared last December . . .

I haven't done a lot of Christmas stitching over the past two years.  So I decided to share this darling ornament that fits the theme . . .

I loved creating this little fellow! I didn't use a pattern (so I don't have one to share).  He's based off of a tin Santa ornament I had and wanted to replicate in felt.

Such fun!

Glad tidings to you, dear reader!  I wish you a Merry Christmas and a joy-filled New Year!  Don't forget to check in with Jo at Serendipitous Stitching each day, to count down the days until Christmas!  Thank you, Jo, for always doing such a lovely job with your blog hops!

And to all, a good night.  :)

just desserts . . .

Aaaaah!!  Can you believe it?  Here it is, December 13, and there are TWELVE days until Christmas!  And I'm blogging (speaking of Christmas miracles)!  That can only mean on thing . . . it's my day for the Advent Blog Hop, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!

One of my biggest projects and happiest finishes this year, was a UFO that I started in 2008 (I first blogged about it here).  Yes, you read that right ... 14 years ago.  It was a BOM by a local quilt shop. I finished all the blocks, but the setting was a feathered star, and it was overwhelming.  So it got wrapped up in a bag and set aside.  Until this year; I decided I wanted a Christmas quilt this year!  So I used our Stitcher's Group UFO Challenge project to get 'er done!  I'm pleased to say, I finished it!

The feathered stars look like snowflakes ... very appropriate for a winter Christmas quilt!

And also . . . I love this quilt!  It's so pretty!

Each year, Jo asks us to respond to a Christmas-related question.  Sometimes it's about ornaments, last year it was about our trees, and this year it's "What's for afters?" which was a new-to-me term! Of course, I quickly realized she was talking about DESSERTS!  What you eat *after* the meal!  That's a no brainer for me.  Here's our dessert for the last three years . . . 

2019

2020

2021

A traditional Buche de Noel!  It's such an easy make, but always looks so pretty!  It's like a huge Swiss cake roll.  LOL! The recipe I have consistently used is from Mon Petit Four, except I leave out the coffee granuales (from the batter and the frosting) and the kaluha. The girls love it too ... but just in case, there always a large assortment of Christmas cookies, too . . . 

Yummy!

So there you have it!  Make sure you "hop" over to Jo's blog and check out all the offerings from days 1-12 ... lots of lucsious-looking 'afters' to be found!  And continue visiting as we countdown to Christmas!  :)

Merry Christmas!!  

ps ... I'm thinking my word for 2023 should be "write" or "blog".  

;)

upside down weather . . .

Backposted (because how ever many years from now I'd regret not having posted these pictures along with their stories)!

Less than 48 hours after we had temps in the 80's, we had . . .

S N O W !

And not just a dusting, either.

Todd and I enjoyed a play day in the fluffy stuff.  I even managed to make a snow angel! You'll notice there is no photo showing the making (or the getting up and down) of said snow angel.  <grin>

We weren't the only ones out enjoying the snow.  I saw plenty of critter tracks, including an intersection of deer tracks that went in every direction!  We also spotted this grand creature . . .

I adore the pileated woodpeckers; we've had a pair living here as long as we've been here.  

Todd grabbed this pristine shot down at the upper pond . . .

I think this may be my favorite picture EVER taken at the camp! (At least, one that didn't have any grandchildren in it!)

Speaking of which, the local crew also enjoyed this surprise snowfall . . .

Even baby brother enjoyed his first experience with the white stuff!

Isn't he just a doll baby?!  

We finally came inside and dimmed the lights and enjoyed the lingering spirit of the Christmastide holiday.  All is calm; all is bright.

It was a pretty magical day, all around. 

:)

whirlwind . . .

Well, all I can think of to say is that it's been a wild ride, this past week or so (and I'm not talking about the tornado watch we're currently under)!

We had a lovely Christmas . . . but there were some sad things, too.  Most notably, my dad went to the hospital by ambulance on Monday, December 20, with an exacerbated COPD episode. We (and the doctors) had hoped he would be home by Christmas, but complications arose and that was not to be.  He came home late this afternoon, by the same method he went.  Hospice has been called in, but as my dad stresses, it's for comfort care, not end-of-life care.  ♥

It's an odd thing to balance all these emotions. On the one hand, I spent the week before Christmas meeting with stitching friends, baking, wrapping, and watching Christmas movies. 

Our traditional Buche de Noel dessert!

I got a sweet photo of ballerina Olivia with the congratulatory bouquet we sent her for her performance in The Nutcracker:

We spent a lovely Christmas Eve with the local grandgirls—Oh! and grandson!—and their parents. 

This was the first year we departed from tradition and allowed the girls to open their gifts from us on Christmas Eve.  It was actually lovely!  

Santa Baby!

Edith spotting Santa from the top of the fire truck ... a tradition in their neighborhood!

Then Todd and I enjoyed a sweet Christmas morning together exchanging gifts and celebrating the birth of our Savior!

But in the back of my mind, through it all, was my dad and mom, if I wasn't at the hospital with him/them. I'm so glad he's finally home today and am looking forward to the opportunity to celebrate with him when he's home (he didn't want to do so while in the hospital) and settled!

I also feel the distance of my son and his family all the more keenly over the holidays.

Luckily, this Christmas, all the kiddos got iPads, with the ability to text and FaceTime certain key family members (like ME!!), when they want to ... which is so lovely!! I chatted back and forth with all three of them on Christmas day, and on Sunday, June, Olivia and I had a FT tea party!

It was such fun.  Olivia used the tea set we had gotten her for Christmas.  What a lovely way to 'break it in'.  Cheers!

I did receive a very lovely assortment of quilty/stitchy gifts from family and friends . . . 

I also got a digital subscription to Punch Needle & Primitive Stitcher.  What fun! The nice thing is that it (1) allows you to download and print the quarterly issues and (2) you have access to the past year's issues!  Then, as if all that wasn't enough (and not including all the lovely non-stitching gifts I got), Todd got me this wonderful sign for my nook:

Isn't that just perfect??!! It made me cry, I was so touched by this very unexpected gift. ♥

We have had temps in the 70's this past week.  One day we spent outside, touring around the camp.

It was so nice, I even put my feet in the creek ... can you imagine?!  We also went down to the marina and pulled the pontoon out of the water, for its annual service/maintenance.  

We drove it around for just a bit before putting it on the trailer.  I mean, if you can, you do!

So, like I said ... full of activity and fun ... but also hard times.  Life is like that, isn't it?  Looking forward to a new year filled with laughter, love, family and friends.  Wishing that for YOU, too!

:)