Christmas Trees, Cookies and SNOW!

It's been a busy few weeks, but now the preparations are nearly completed. The decorations and lights are up. The trees are trimmed. The gifts are all wrapped and ready. Most of the baking is done and now it's just the very last last-minute details to finish up. I hope everyone is relatively stress-free and enjoying the hustle and bustle of the season!

The second Saturday of December was the day of our tree-finding expedition. Jen and Rich already had their tree, but they and Maeve joined Rudi, Amy, Kevin and I as we trucked up to the Bidlake's tree lot to choose our trees. It was a beautiful, clear, but very cold day - perfect for a Christmas tree hunt. Here we are at Charlie Brook Tree Farm with Patrick and Walter Bidlake, whose family has been our Yoho neighbours for years. Two generations (so far) of Phillips and Bidlake children have spent summers together at the Lake.

After we had found and cut our perfect trees, we headed for our favorite coffee shop for warm drinks and treats, then on to Amy and Rudi's for a lovely supper and tree trimming. The tree for the chalet is huge, and looks beautiful with all its lights and decorations. Here are the Fowlers with their almost-finished tree.

The next day we got our tree up and trimmed, Amy and Kevin got the lights arranged just right.

Kevin, Kathy and I attended a service of Chistmas Lessons and Carols at Christ Church Cathedral later that afternoon. We really enjoyed the music and the beautiful atmosphere.

We have another traditional kind of Christmas Trees at our house, and that is the breads that I bake each year at this time for our Christmas morning breakfast. I serve the sweet cinnamon, raisin and almond filled buns with bowls of fresh cut fruit. It's a yummy tradition that we always look forward to.

"Christmas at the Playhouse" is a wonderful Christmas event in Fredericton, and on the weekend we were pleased to attend one of their performances. The cast is made up of local people - adults, children and youth - who sing, dance and act in a variety-type show. There is a story line which weaves all the acts together and results in a totally delightful experience. Instead of elaborate costumes, each scene has a colour scheme, with all the participants wearing their own clothes in a particular colour. For instance, in one set everyone wore white, and in another they all wore purple and black. Then, there were bright scarves in four or five colours which they all wore. The story of the Grinch was told in song, and for that kooky scene all the actors dressed in pink and red. It was fantastic! We plan to make this an annual part of our Christmas celebration.

On Saturday we had what we hope is the first of many four-generation Christmas baking days. My mother, my two daughters and my grand-daughter came in the morning loaded with recipes and ingredients and for about six hours we mixed, rolled, baked and decorated cookies and sweets. Mum made sandwiches for our lunch break and at the end of the day we all got to take home a share of the goodies. It was a great time - hopefully next year my daughter-in-law and her daughter can be with us too! Here are four generations of bakers!

And here is the youngest, doing a terrific job putting sprinkles on the shortbreads.

Here is Amy surveying what we ended up with at the end of our baking marathon!

Then we arranged them all on plates and popped them in the freezer, ready for serving to company or taking out when we go visiting. Don't they look delicious?

And now I wish each one of you a wonderful Christmas! May you enjoy all that this season means, especially the peace and joy that Jesus was born to bring to us.