I think to Lilly the tree was the most magical part of it all, and she was so sad when the garbage truck came to pick it up last week, still processing that one.
Lilly helped me bake Hershey Kiss Cookies, unwrapping the chocolate kisses and then putting them on the half baked cookies (before eating some! These cookies were her favorite kind, I bet because she helped make them, and probably the chocolate had something to do with it too).
Christmas eve we had friends over for a traditional Norwegian yule celebration.
Since we're half American around here, we also had a busy Christmas day opening gifts Santa had left in stockings and around the tree (thank you all!).
We had a traditional Norwegian Christmas tree party around Epiphany: Lilly's friends, and ours, came over and we sung and danced around the tree while eating the remaining cookies and snacks, sipping gløgg (Scandinavian mulled wine). Lilly still breaks out singing "Å jul med din glede," "Jingle Bell," and "Twelve Days of Christmas" several times each day.
New Year's Eve has always been significant to me, so I wanted us to have a fine night. And indeed we did. We all dressed up and I made a very nice meal for us all with Sockey salmon, saffron risotto and salad.
