Dundon Family Christmas 2010

This is our 2010 Christmas tree. Yep, trees that are used here for Christmas decorations are a little "different" than back home in N.C. This actually looks like and smells like a Leeland Cyprus tree that we have planted as a property border back home. It's a little difficult to get the ornaments to hang as pretty as you can on a Douglas Fir, but it's something. In the previous two years we've had a star at the top of our tree. This year, I decided that we had to have a traditional N.C. bow, but I wasn't quite sure how I was going to get one since no one uses bows here in that manner, really. Then, I got the idea of looking on You Tube for a video on how to make one myself. So, this is it folks. Where there's a will, there's a way and this is my double bow tree topper...not too bad, eh?

With Danielle and Grandma visiting for 7 weeks, they were always looking for something to do. Danielle and Grandma like to paint, so what better project than for them to help "spruce" up the house a little, I thought. Actually, our house that we live in had been empty for a couple of years and when we moved in the color of the livingroom and diningroom was a very off-white, but gray color. Kinda gloomy, to say the least. Now, thanks to Danielle's and Grandma's help, oops, and Jordan too, it is a really pretty soft cream color in both rooms with new matching curtains in burgundy, navy blue and cream that Grandma made. Just a blessing to our family to have things updated and fresh!

As in previous years, we received tamales from friends and neighbors for Christmas which are exchanged instead of cookies, though we carried on our American family tradition and had a family baking day. We made six different types of Christmas cookies and handed those out in baskets that we had purchased which were cloth-lined with burgundy-colored linen. Our neighbors and friends always get so excited to receive and actually like the American tradition of cookie exchanging! We have friends who know we are "chocoholics", in fact, they are too! They called us to tell us to go to a particular bakery and pick up this cake that they had ordered for us on the day of Brad's arrival (Danielle's husband) for our family Christmas. It was so beautiful, I had to take a picture!