Christmas Blessings

At this time of year, it is wonderful to enjoy the many blessings that this season brings us, and one of those is celebrating the birth of our Savior and Lord together with family and friends.  Our family began the day with sharing small gifts with each other, after praising the Lord together for his many blessings on our lives throughout the year.

Our daughter, an incredibly talented artist, painted a breathtaking picture to give us.

She started painting the picture just a few days ago, and we were very amazed by the beautiful mountain scene she painted with a rustic log cabin and rushing waterfall set against the backdrop of mountains.  What an amazing gift it was for us!

Soon it was time for our Christmas dinner with our family and friends. Here is a peek of a few of the dishes we enjoyed...

Homemade rolls made with freshly ground flour from my grain mill!  I haven't had a chance to post about my new grain mill yet, but plan to soon! At any rate, these rolls were pretty amazing, and very easy to make as well.

Homemade pumpkin pie all the way - (I cut up the pumpkin, cooked, pureed it, and made the homemade pie crust using lard with my mother's tested and true recipe).  Pumpkin pie is always the favorite at our house!

Green bean casserole -  a turkey dinner just isn't complete without a green bean casserole!

Or a sweet potato casserole!  This actually is a mix of sweet potato and pumpkin, as I had some extra pumpkin puree left over.  I just mixed the two together with yummy results!

Corn bread dressing brought by one of our friends....

Huge pot of creamed potatoes.

Our friends brought their dogs, and the dogs were beside themselves with all the bits of treats that they received throughout the meal!

Shiloh claimed Annie's bed.

Annie claimed it back.  They're friends like that.

A picture of the table centerpiece.  To the right, you can see a mason jar that I filled with some greenery, and paraffin oil, added a wick, with a hole in the lid.  This added the perfect touch to the table decor.

And once the turkey was deboned, the carcass and bones were put back into the pot, covered with water, and will be slow simmered for about 24 hours to get some lovely bone broth.  I will make turkey soup with the leftover meat and broth.

Those are just a few glimpses of our day together as we celebrated the birth of our Lord, with the best present of all being His presence!