On the eve of Christmas Eve I was shivering with fever and wondering if we would have to call off our annual Christmas Eve dinner. But, Alas! The next morning I woke up to sunshine and good health and the party was on. Since I did nothing but shiver underneath a blanket the day before the house was a mess so the kids and I ran around trying to make it presentable for our special guests. I threw on a tablecloth and dishes and Sabra ran out to the woods and picked pretty little bouquets of holly and ferns and we hung more lights to make it all a bit more festive (since our poor little hemlock kicked the bucket).

The guests arrived and I put them to work on a new potato recipe and salad tossing. We topped off the evening with fancy desserts, coffee, baby bouncing, song singing, visiting and instagraming.  I was too drained to think about hauling out the big camera so I documented with my iPhone.  It was a crazy, loud, cheerful mess as always.  I am blessed.