These Are a Few of My Favorite Things. . .

Karen Hansen made this darling little nativity puppet glove. How cute is this? Every time I try to pack it away, Paige somehow finds it and she "needs" it. It's my favorite new Christmas treasure of the year!


I realize this post is about a month late, but better late than never! The month of December was a weird one for me because I had the stomach flu, strep throat, and allergies. Fortunately, I was okay on Christmas and New Years, but it really threw me off. "Low Expectations" is my second favorite motto after "Baby Steps" and that got me through, in addtion to tons of help from Craig and Rebecca. I love Christmas, and this year was especially sweet for me because we have Josh home from his mission and Rebecca, Mark, Paige and Claire with us while they wait for their transfer to Idaho this spring. It was fun to have a "retro" tree with just the child friendly ornaments and the old bubble lights like Craig had on his tree when he was a child. I must say, there is something to be said for keeping things simple. Although, can you ever really have enough Christmas decorations? I'm pretty sure not.

When I was a little girl, I loved arranging the simple nativity my grandmother kept on a bookshelf in her hallway. I would arrange it one way and then at some point Vicky, my older cousin by 4 days, would arrange it her way. We would go back and forth all evening during our family Christmas party. I now keep that special nativity in my hutch all year long. I love my Precious Moments nativity, but since it's porcelain, I couldn't let my kids play with it. When I shared that with a friend, she told me to go to Woolworths and get the nativity pieces sold separately. Back in those days (the 1980's) they had metal basket/bins filled with individual pieces. So each year I bought a few pieces and since they were plastic I kept it down low for my kids to play with and rearrange to their hearts content. It's not the cutest set, but it is my treasure. Back in the day they would play with it along side their fisher-price toys. Imagine my joy when fisher-price started making a darling nativity of their own (fisher-pricestore.com)!

Somehow, I started collecting nativities and friends started giving them to me. I only put out a few this year, in keeping with my child friendly theme. With 5 busy little grandhchildren under the age of 4, I didn't want to worry about things breaking or having to get after the grandkids. Although I missed some of my favorite decorations, it was a treat to focus on the simpler, sweeter aspects of the holiday this year.
I love Jim Shore's Heartwood Creek designs. They're a perfect combination of two of my very most favorite things: quilts and nativities. I got this sweet one [above] on sale after Christmas last year. I love it's title - "The Journey That Changed the World". I love the original nativity [below] as well. Each piece has part of the nativity story carved into the clothing. It was so exciting when the extra set came out with a drummer boy, camel and palm tree.


My friend Ruth gave me the original set of the Willow Tree nativity, and since then, friends and family member have completed it for me. I especially love The 3 Trees, that I got in Texas when Kaylee was born.


I never get tired of the wooden nativity made by my friend, Joni Robinson.My sister, Dana made the cute garland.



Ella Wride was our RS President when we first moved to Moreno Valley in 1980. At that time, she was in her late 60's and she took such good care of all of us young mom's. One Christmas back then, Ella made this NOEL magnet set for us and gave it to us with a batch of rocky road fudge that her husband, George, made. They were such dear people and it makes me smile and think of them when I put this up on my frig each year. It is simple felt and pom-poms, cut with pinking shears, but it is one of my treasures.


Thanks for letting me ramble on about a few of my favorite things.