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Mosaic, your traditions sound lovely.
: I've added a few this year that I
: think will become traditions too.
: I love advent calendars, and this
: year I bought a really sweet one
: that can be used every year. It
: has a little wooden tree, and
: every day there's a new animal to
: add, to build a woodland scene.
: There are two owls, another bird
: and a squirrel that perch in the
: tree, and the rest of the animals
: are gathered around the tree.
: Today I added the last item, a
: shiny gold star on the top of the
: tree. Of course, I will still do
: the traditional paper advent
: calendar, but this is a welcome
: addition to my joys of the
: Christmas season.

: We inherited some Nambe ware bowls
: this year. They are lovely heavy
: silver bowls (not real silver,
: though - they don't need to be
: polished). I thought they would
: look nice with some shiny
: Christmas balls in them, but I
: didn't have any. I bought a set of
: silver and gold ornaments. They
: are plastic and not glass, but
: they look really nice in the
: bowls. I added a set of the
: battery operated tiny lights to
: the display in the oval bowl, and
: it looks lovely and sparkly.

: We actually put up outdoor lights
: this year. I bought a strand of
: lights with twinkling snowflakes,
: and then my husband, who had never
: even had a Christmas tree until I
: moved in with him, bought a strand
: of red chili pepper lights. We put
: them up last night, and when I
: went back to the house from the
: little building my parrots are in,
: I enjoyed looking at the outdoor
: lights, the full moon, and the
: Christmas tree lights that I could
: see through the living room
: window. I have also noticed that
: now that we were given a wonderful
: extension cord that has an on/off
: switch, my husband turns the tree
: lights on when he gets up. I think
: he's actually started to enjoy
: having a tree. Over the years, I
: have given him ornaments and we
: have picked some out together, so
: I have cleverly gotten him more
: engaged in the whole tree thing.

: My other established traditions are:
: Swedish Christmas soap
: Advent calendars (paper and the
: Jacquie Lawson animated one)
: Previewing the Jacquie Lawson
: animated Christmas cards to get
: into the Christmas spirit - some
: of them really capture that magic
: feeling from my childhood,
: especially the snowy scenes
: My favorite Christmas music (have a
: new favorite this year with guitar
: and Native American flute)
: A real tree with lots of birds on it,
: with colored lights on the tree
: and white lights arranged on the
: tree skirt
: Sweet potato pie with whipped cream
: Roasted rosemary pecans
: Yummy gourmet cheeses
: Luminarias on Christmas eve
: A trip to the wildlife refuge to see
: cranes and Snow Geese and ducks
: and eagles in the afternoon on
: Christmas day if the weather
: allows (We also go with another
: couple on New Year's day)

: We are going to do a chuck roast in
: the slow cooker so dinner will be
: ready when we get back from the
: refuge. I will make the pie this
: afternoon if I get out of work
: early, or on Christmas morning.

: Allison