Merry Christmas to All!

I'm posting this on the 20th of December, which means that Christmas is in 5 days. Dan and I (with our hitch-hiker, Kasey) are making our way to Oregon to my parent's place for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day festivities. For New Year's we'll be in Lynden and will hopefully be able to catch up with friends and family there.
Every Christmas and winter is different and every year there are new things that make my 'favorites' list. Here's a brief (and incomplete) list of my favorite things for winter and Christmas 2007:
1. Going to the Palouse Chorale concert with Dan. We have so many amazingly talented singers in the area and hearing them sing very old carols in Hebrew and Latin was a real treat. The songs that were done in English were sing-along songs with the audience, so we all go to participate.
2. My new miniature church that goes with my little Christmas village. Dan suprised me with it early. Now the little village has a church, a candle shop and two houses.
3. Baking cookies and making treats. I sent out 4 boxes with goodies and had a ton of fun making them. I made my stand-bys (fudge, chocolate chip cookies, sugar cookies) and added some new ones to the mix (magic layer bars, pumpkin bread, chocolate truffles and lemon star cookies).
4. Spending cold evenings trying out new and fun techniques with photography and scrapbooking. I've never been very good at taking pictures of inanimate objects, so I've been working on getting better and also playing around with my photo software to make my pictures prettier.
5. Sunday walks with Dan. Even though it's cold and has been rainy, we try to go for a long walk on Sunday afternoons and I love it. It's nice to spend time outside with Dan with no distractions to interrupt our conversation.
6. Our wall of Christmas cards. I can't believe how many super-cute cards we have from family and friends decorating the wall. Those of you who sent cards - thank you, they warm our hearts and brighten the apartment.
7. Christmas Carols! Those of you who know me well know that I am a really bad singer, but I don't care. I thoroughly enjoy singing Christmas carols and have been all season long. Our small group has been studying hymns and their origins and in December we switched to Christmas hymns. The stories behind some of the songs are very inspiring and have really led to a deeper appreciation of the hymns. I think my favorite Christmas hymn changes everyday.
8. My absolute favorite things, aren't things. They are my family and friends and the true reason for the season, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Yes, the above list is certainly incomplete and I know I'll think of other things that should have been included, but I hope you take some time to put your list together.

Have a happy and safe holiday and we wish you all the best in the New Year!