I hope your Christmases were all filled with joy, laughter, and loved ones. Ours sure was! I've been rather silent on this space for the last week because the preparations and celebrations consumed my time. The silence was much needed and worth it, though, as we had several lovely Christmas celebrations with all sides of our family.

My favorite Christmas celebration, though, is always the simple one at home with my love. With our large families that celebrate on different days each year it's hard to have a specific date to always call our own, so we decided in our first year of marriage that while the date could change, would we have one Christmas Celebration Day for ourselves each year. This year we celebrated on Tuesday and started the day with homemade caramel rolls, a new tradition! (Which I realized too late that my store-bought yeast must have expired...so they were a little dense!)

We then had our traditional cheese plate in the afternoon with a steamed artichoke and our favorite Christmas wassail (one of my favorite Christmas traditions).

After opening our gifts to one another, which was so much fun, we ended the evening with a deliciously tender venison roast with mushrooms and onions.

It was a fabulous Christmas had by all! I hope you are resting today after all of the festivities! We sure are here.