Finishing Out the Old Year at Our Preppy Mountain Farmhouse

 

This is how I feel about the upcoming year.  Can you feel the excitement?

I'm sharing with you today moments from our final week of 2016.

 

Our youngest loved sporting her new Santa pjs on Christmas Eve.

 

I made cherry cream cheese danish for breakfast Christmas morning.  Pinterest-inspired, of course.

 

This is where I spent most of my time around Christmas: in the kitchen in my holiday apron.

 

One of the odd mishaps that occurred on Christmas day: my air bake pan that was full of corn casserole went screwy when the bottom rose up in the center, pushing the corn contents up and over the top and all through my oven.  We had Christmas dinner in a smoky kitchen.

 

I tried my hand at some creative appetizers found on Pinterest.  The meat/cheese/cracker Christmas tree on the left looked pretty close to the Pinterest pin; the veggie Santa not so much.

 

Believe it or not, these one-piece elephant pajamas were not a gag gift.  Our 14-year old loved them!

 

This hen somehow flew the coop and perched outside our kitchen window most of Christmas day.  She did get to share the scrapings of corn casserole from that mangled cake pan with a very large opossum who showed up in the evening.  I wonder if it's the same marsupial who hung out under our front porch as a baby this summer.

 

We drank two pitchers of this insanely awesome champagne punch.  The recipe can be found here at Between Naps on the Porch.

 

Watching our grandson open his first Christmas gifts was so fun, and he was very proud of himself.

 

This farmhouse felt big when we bought it, but after squeezing 17 family members in one room to exchange gifts and get pictures, it's evident that we need some extra space.  I'm praying big prayers this year for an addition so we can continue to host gatherings as our family expands. 

 

We have no exciting plans to ring in the new year since Hubby is on call at the hospital and our teen son needs a ride to/from a swing dance.  I'm hoping to not have to be the one to pick him up after midnight, and I can sip some of this delicious Choco Vine I got as a Christmas present while I watch old episodes of Gilmore Girls and Call the Midwife with our teen daughter.  It has really been an awesome year, and I thank God for all the blessings we've received in 2016.

I am so excited about what 2017 has to offer.  I plan on spending more days with our grandson while he's still a baby, learning how to use all the features on my new camera, renovating our farmhouse kitchen, watching our youngest take her first Holy Communion, and spending more time on blogging.

And I want all of you Preppy Mountain Farmhouse readers to know that I also count you among my blessings for this year.  My little blog has tripled in views, subscribers and followers this year thanks to all of you.  I cherish every comment I receive from you and am thrilled when I see in my stats the various cities and countries you are from.  Writing this blog and connecting with you is one of my high points every week.

Happy New Year, Everyone!  See you again in 2017.