Journal

A festive month

A festive month

In our family, December has always been a festive month, full of joyful rituals enjoyed by kids and grown-ups as well!

 

 

 

We are stepping happily into this festive mood when we decorate the tree and set up the Christmas lights outside.

This year, for the first time and in good Oregonians, we went to a local farm to cut ourselves our tree, which we proudly brought back home and decorated. Unboxing and re-discovering the Christmas glass ornaments we have been collecting over the years is always a pure joy, especially for the girls.

This year, the new ornaments added to the collection were a Cactus, a big pink heart face, a bee or a vintage trailer, souvenirs of our latest travels in Tucson and in California this Summer.

 

 

 

 

It's also time for a couple of DIY activities such as crafting our own Christmas wreath. This year, we gathered branches and made dried orange slices that we simply attached with some twine to the wreath and it looked really nice.

 

 

Decorating the gingerbread houses with home made frosting and candies was another activity we enjoyed doing together with the girls.

This is a typical American tradition, new to our family, that we have embraced and will add to our Christmas activities in the coming years!

 

 

This year, more than ever, I have been really into cooking all kind of traditional Christmas treats such as gingerbread, quince paste, dried fruits stuffed with marzipan, Christmas tea, "Bûche de Noël". Some of them are recipe inherited from my grand-mothers which remind me the Christmas of my childhood and that I would like to introduce and pass over to the girls.

 

 

 

 

Something I also love doing is packing Christmas gifts and this year, my inspiration was to use what the Oregonian nature can give us, as a nod to what really helped us go through this challenging year.

I went foraging in the woods nearby and found some pretty branches and leaves to adorn simple natural kraft packages. 

 

 

 

All in all, Santa found our home and this was another magic and beautiful Christmas for our family!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! We are very grateful to be part of such a strong community and wish you and your loved ones Happy Holidays!