Our annual Christmas open house was a lot of fun! We had a wonderful time, with some surprise visitors dropping in! Some drove for several hours to get here. Thank you to everyone who helped make the day a success…those who pitched in to help and those who came to visit. We are thankful for each of you!
With all the wonderful help, we had the best record for getting things done that we’ve ever achieved. Believe me, in years past we were sometimes up till after midnight, but on Saturday evening, I went to bed at 10:00. Sunday wasn’t rushed and we were ready an hour ahead of time! Thanks, again, dear helpers! You know who you are!
It seems our outdoor kitty Tiger-Tee was the official front porch greeter. He is extremely sweet and friendly. Rose Red and a new friend spent some time giving Tiger-Tee some love.
The front door is decorated with snowflakes, cut to fit the windows that frame the door.
The front hall gives a good view of the banister and its garland. We always hang our Christmas stockings from the banister. The little tree on the washstand is decorated with chocolate ornaments and small candy canes for our smaller Christmas guests…though, I’m sure some of our larger guests enjoyed them, as well!
The guest book is kept on the washstand and guests signed in as they arrived.
The newel post…
To the left, in the front hall is a beautiful church pew someone gave us many years ago. We have its twin in the upstairs hall. The doorway to the left goes into the living room. The white door to the right is the kitchen door.
From the other end of the hall, looking toward the front door…
Standing in the front hall is the Christmas-at-Our-House Tree. In the past, we had a tree in the upstairs hall with pictures of our children at Christmas. We added our sons wives and the grands as they joined the family. Somehow those pictures went missing. This year, because we weren’t decorating upstairs, we brought the tree downstairs and I made new ornaments for it. I chose family pictures, but also pictures of Christmas events and also of the decorations we put up. I made 25 ornaments. I plan to make a tutorial at some point. I need to make about 25 more ornaments to fill out the tree.
In the living room, the old box grand piano displays our nativity.
The fireplace mantel is decorated with framed Christmas cards that chronicle Christ’s birth.
To the right of the fireplace, is the Christmas tree that holds our family ornaments. It’s a nine feet tall tree that sits on a two feet tall box.
A few of our guests…
Looking from the living room into the dining room.
Please excuse the odd angles in this photo. I took it with my phone. The trees are totally standing straight! This is the “Snow Tree.” The snow is cotton fluff that has been put down by hand on every branch.
The old cupboard in the corner of the dining room belonged to DH’s paternal grandparents. The little tree on top is also covered with cotton fluff snow.
Cookies and punch for our guests.
The framed papers on the cookie table told which goodies were gluten free and the truffle flavors.
The coffee station was set up on the buffet. Freshly ground coffee and two kinds of biscotti…wonderful on a chilly, rainy day.
In the next post, we’ll take up the tour in the kitchen, where my sister Genny and dear daughter-in-law kept the cookie trays filled and the punch flowing!
Click here to read part two. Open House 2016 / Part Two
~~Rhonda
5 Comments
We really hated to miss your open house.
I has been an annual enjoyable event for us but this year we had another out of state commitment.
Next year. OK.
Larry
Larry, we are sorry you weren’t able to come this year. Next year we’ll be looking for you! 🙂
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos!
Pastor Bob’s sister sez: What a beautiful way to honor the birthday of our Lord. Rhonda, you are truly amazing! Wish we lived closer so we could share in your joyous celebration.