Our Christmas Tree ...

 

December 8, 2016

Mike worked hard to get the tree ready ...

for the decorations to be put on ...

This tree was covered in fir cones ...

They give it a true sense of a wild tree ...

that you would not have from a groomed tree in a lot ...

Early this morning Mike started with putting the lights on the tree ...

7 strings attached and with over 850 lights to be placed ...

Mike is very fussy about the placing of the lights ...

My job was to hold and guide the light strings ... up to Mike ...

as he was high up on the ladder ...

Unfortunately I was not able to help him out for very long ...

I was heading to Alberta to do some shopping ...

and pick up the grandchildren to head back to home the next day ...

 

This was the scenery on my travels ...

on my way to the highway ...

It was a clear ... sunny day for driving ...

Only encountered some compact snow ... when I drove thru the CNP ...

 

 

December 9, 2016

It was a good trip travelling home ...

some areas were slow going because of the snow covered roads ...

We just took our time ... and made it back safely ...

The grandchildren were happy to see grandpa ...

and they couldn't wait to have a game of Trouble with him ...

They love playing with this game ...

which is very old ...

It belonged to their dad and uncle Ian when they were young ...

 

We were all in awe of the Christmas Tree ... It was beautiful ... !!!

Mike had done a wonderful job with decorating ... while I was travelling ...

I do believe this was the first time that I was not their to help decorate ...

 

 

More Cookies ...

December 6, 2016

It was a busy day ... decorating all the gingerbread men and angels ...

it warms my heart to see them smile back at me ...

 

It takes a bit of time to decorate all of them ...

grateful the this was a job I could do sitting down ...

 

After the cookies were done ... and a lunch break ...

Mike and I proceeded to drag in this 14 ft Christmas tree ...

Old sheets were placed on the kitchen floor ... the butt end of the tree was placed on my shoulder ...

Mike took the top of the tree and we squeezed it thru ...

the sliding glass door opening ... 

We then turned the tree around to have the top end go into the living room ... under the log stringers ...

to be stood up in its place ...  

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the sun setting on the mountains ...

While Mike was busy fixing up the tree ... tying it up to secure it ...

I started baking another batch of cookies ...

Once these snowflake cookies had cooled ... 

they were then decorated ... 

Sitting down at the island ... the little lines were piped onto the snowflake ...

It was another busy day ... 

and I enjoyed every minute of it ... luv the decorating touches on all the cookies ...

 

 

Cookies and a Christmas Tree ...

December 3, 2016

My morning started out with making the Gingerbread dough ...

dividing it into four discs ... then placed them in the refrigerator for a couple of hours ...

After the dough was cooled ...

it was time to roll it out and start cutting out the gingerbread men and angels ...

placing them on prepared cookie sheets and putting them in the oven to be baked ...

 

I decided to make a double batch of Vanille Kipferl (Viennese Vanilla Crescents) dough ...

while the Gingerbread dough was in the refrigerator ...

The dough was divided into sections ...

the pieces were then rolled by hand ...

into small logs and shaped into a crescent ...

Once they were baked ... they were taken out of the oven ...

cooled for one minute ...

then rolled into vanilla flavoured icing sugar ...

The cookies were place on cookie racks until cooled ...

then rolled in the icing sugar mix again ... and stored in a airtight container ...

These cookies are one of the families favourite ...

 

 

We decided to go out in search of a Christmas tree today as well ...

after the Vanille Kipferl cookies were baked ...

The weather this afternoon was perfect ... plus there was a snowstorm ...

in the forecast for the next couple days ...

We headed out down the road ... to Oma's place ... to find a tree ...

We found a beautiful ... tall tree ...

Mike proceeded to cut down the tree with the chainsaw ...

While I stood aside and watched ... taking a picture as it was falling ...

Mike stepped out the length of the tree ... marked it and cut the top of the tree off ...

I sure hope he marked it correctly ...

It took the two of us to pack it to the small flat deck trailer ...

to be hauled home ...

It was a good thing that we had built the new car shelter ...

Mike backed the trailer in to store the tree ... to protect it from the deer and elk ...

from eating it ... until we could bring it into the house ...

Once that was done ... I continued to bake Gingerbread cookies for another hour ...

 

We're Ready For Christmas ...

December 13, 2015

The house is all ready for the festive season ...

The tree completely decorated ... it took us a couple hours to finish ...

before we headed outside to play ...

The view of the Christmas Tree from the upper floor looking down ...

is one of my favourites ...

Lots of snow had fallen ...

it was time to head outside and clear it away ...

but ...

first Mike took the snowmobile ...

to pack down the snow on the driveway ... getting it ready for the kids ...

when they come over Christmas ...

to go sliding around the track ...

In the evening ... the last batch of cookies were made ...

these ones melt in your mouth with a delectable flavour ...

they are a meringue cookie ...

made with chopped pecans ... chocolate chips and crushed candy canes ...

They take the longest to bake out of all the cookies ...

these cookies are well worth the waiting time ... !!!

MMMMMMMM

Let the Christmas festivities begin ... !!!

PS: Vern ... just to let you know ... your order has been filled ... !!!