Deck the halls!

I can't believe it's mid-December and we just put up our Christmas tree tonight. If Katie and Emily hadn't put their minds to it, we might have gone tree-less this year!

Ever since Emily learned the professional way to decorate a tree (part of her co-op placement at Ikea), she has been our master tree-adorner.


This year, she and Katie worked their magic again, placing garlands, then large ornaments, then smaller ones, then accents.

We have more than enough ornaments for two trees, but we only do one, so there will always be some left over.


After the tree was done, we snacked on cake and hot chocolate, this time made with a sprinkle of cinnamon mixed in with the cocoa.

All too soon it was time for Katie to venture back into the brutally cold winter. It's always startling how one person's absence makes such a difference to the energy in our house.

At the end of the evening, I sat down to write this post. When I glanced to my left, I saw this.

The girls really worked magic.

And to my right, I see this.

Peter has kept this fire going all day.

It's -19C/-3F outside, but we're toasty warm in here.

I took a few more pictures of our various ornaments. One of them, I had photographed and edited last year. I remember being very frustrated with it - I had a hard time getting enough light. I ended up doing more editing on it than I liked.

This year, the photo was almost SOOC (straight out of the camera). I say "almost" because I did have to lighten Mary's face. I kind of wish I had paid more attention to the lights -- I could have placed halos behind their heads.

Which one do you prefer? Do you have a favourite decoration that you pull out every year?

And here's a bonus picture of Katie, just because.

I think she looks so good in a Santa hat that she should wear it all the time.