Christmas has come and gone once more and before I gear up for a New Year’s out on the town, I thought I’d go through a few pictures I snapped during the frenzy of snowflakes, feasting, family, music, and gifts.

Christmas Eve was spent in Venosta, Quebec. We sang carols in church, had a surprise visit from Santa, ate lots of good food, played more music and board games, and opened gag gifts.

It felt like we were inside a snow globe when we woke up in the morning. Soft, fluffy snowflakes were tumbling down silently outside the farmhouse windows.

After breakfast, we hit the road back to Ottawa and headed to my dad’s place for more food, gifts, and family.

We also stopped by Tyler’s aunt’s house to meet her week old granddaughter – was a beautiful little girl (with long perfect fingers – destined to be a musician, I think!)

Boxing day was an early start, with my mom coming over for brunch, and my sister and her boyfriend coming over before heading back to Toronto.

We headed out to Kanata and Tyler suited up to play a fun game of hockey with my mom’s side of the family.

We went up to Almonte next, to see Tyler’s family, and hung out with his cousin and her husband and babies for a couple of hours before they flew back to Calgary. Then we drove to Calabogie to have another great big dinner with the Zeyls – roast beef instead of turkey, and a coffee pot full of the best gravy.

The night was windy, but beautifully crisp, and the moonrise over the lake was stunning. We did well this year, managing to see all sides of both families and out of town visitors, running around but not too much. Happy holidays! I hope yours were as full of love, laughter and great stories as mine were!