Saying Goodbye to Christmas 2015

With all that happened this past month, with the stressful birth of my grandson, Matthew; the Christmas Wedding; the Christmas preparation and Christmas itself, I was never able to do what I wanted to this year with my blog.  I wanted to do Twelve Days of Christmas and highlight twelve Christmas decorating images. However, time never allowed for that.  So, before all the decorations are put away, (I won't do that until after New Year's Day.) I decided, with your indulgence, I would show you twelve images of Christmas 2015 now.  I hope you don't mind.  Every year I have a hard time of letting go of Christmas and this year is no exception.  I promise to move on to 2016 very soon :).

 My very generous daughter, Amanda, one year decided to buy me this Willow Tree Nativity.  She purchased the WHOLE set for me BEFORE Christmas!  We have enjoyed it every year ever since.  It is beautiful and I think of her generosity everytime I put it up.

 Ornaments from my big tree in the living room

 I found this woodland racoon at JoAnn Fabrics way back in the fall.  He was proudly displayed throughout harvest time and all the way to Thanksgiving.  Since I just love him, I decided to incorporate him in my Christmas decorations, as well.

 My neighbor, Cindy, has given me some kind of snowman every year at Christmas for so many years I have lost count.  I love showing them off!

 My daughter, Brittany, helped with this dining table arrangement.  We started with a piece of barn board.  It was a piece left over from a barn repair job my husband did on our barn earlier this year.  I'm not sure you can see the barn board in this photo very well but, it is there underneath the greenery.  When Christmas Day came, my table was all set to go.  I thought it was so pretty.  The pillar and pinecone candles on the table were battery operated and timed.  Everything came to life around 4:30 in the afternoon.  It was awesome!

 This is my little artificial tree.  It resides in the family room where our woodstove burns quite often in the winter.  Therefore, a real tree wouldn't last very long.  Because it is artificial I can leave it up as long as I'd like!  AND, the ornaments seem to stay where I put them, unlike the real Christmas tree!

 I found this "Holidays" picture at the Christmas Tree Shop.  I purchased two different scenes at the time not really sure where I was going to use them.  I only knew they were pretty.  The lady standing next to me at the store told me they were hard to get and that they had sold out quickly at other Christmas Tree Shops.  I received so many comments on this picture throughout the season.  It was certainly worth the little investment!

 Here are little Christmas decorations I have collected over the years.  Each holds a little memory.

 A funny arrangement I did in the drawer of the front hall table...real holly...fake fur.

 This has been a mild winter, so far.  No snow on the ground here.  Funny thing is, though, while I am writing this post, it is snowing outside for the first time all season.  This may be the last time I will see grass for a while, although I'm hoping that is not the case!

 This Christmas tree is in the new shed my husband built for me for my business.  More on that later.  It's not quite finished yet :).

Well, here we are at the end of theTwelve Images, one last photo of Christmas 2015.  I hope you've enjoyed the tour and I sincerely hope you have had a wonderful and joyous Christmas season.

Now on to 2016!