Mess and Happiness

Christmas cookies were made. In a big way.
I'm not even kidding.
Christmas Eve, girls gathered at my mom's house to make some good stuff and we over-made some good stuff. But that doesn't matter so much. I have cookies in my freezer now. That's a really good feeling.
I'm making a weird face in this picture because I am trying to boss my little brother about how to use my camera. I decided to post it anyway, since there are four generations of girls in it.




We went to the candlelight Christmas Eve service at my grandma's church. That's a tradition we hold to every year and it's my absolute favorite part of the entire season. The quiet worship and the peace of hearing the Word, familiar and true, calm me when I need it most - at the end of the frantic preparations for the next morning. So, yeah. I brought my camera into church. I'm not entirely certain it was the right thing to do, but every year, I wish I could capture those moments of worshiping with my family, so this year I did it. I will never be sorry. Most of what my stealthy snapping gave me will be just for me. It's too precious to share. But here's a bit of what Christmas is to me:






We tucked all the presents under the tree and weren't even up too late. I mean, it was late, but I didn't pull another all-nighter or anything, which was a really nice change.



And, oh yeah. Emma got an electric guitar.



I made loads of stuff for Christmas too. I know I promised I wouldn't. At least most of it was sewn and not knitted. Knitting takes forever. Sadly, I neglected to photograph any of it. I plan to spend a bit of time this week visiting my creations at their new homes and taking pictures of them so I can show them all to you.