Merry Christmas Eve

Last night, Christmas Eve, we had our traditional Mexican food dinner. We thought for sure we had to do without homemade tamales but my daughter came through! A dozen were given to her. Yippeee, they were great. (Where are those leftovers? I bet she took them home.) Last year we had posole and decided to serve it again. I made it the day before so it had time to mellow. I use a fairly simple recipe with pork and hominy. We have lots of add ins: chopped radishes, cilantro, avocado, scallions and sour cream. Yum! This year the five of us made a decision to draw names with a $$ limit. I was really nervous about it because it was so different than we've done in the past. It turned out fantastic. I didn't even go to a mall this year. The stress was non-existant. We each really anticipated finding out who had our name and how creative they were with their $20. I decreeded that presents to Ella did not count. She got a home made doggie treat from Uncle Eddie and I made her an embellished travel bag. I forgot to take a picture of because I finished it at the last minute. Drats....!

My Texas family and extended family here decided to celebrate with good wishes and very few gifts. Aunt Mary got her beloved French Mints from Cerrata's. Christmas day with the rest of our
"family" will be about food, food, food, drink and enjoying each other (oh, yeah, ball games too!)

Special items of note:

My friend Beverly made this darling stocking for her grandson, Patrick. She always does a beautiful job on her color choices. Lucky boy!
Some of us have more furry friends than we can count. I made little stockings for most all of them this year. Ella got two and took them home immediately to hang on her doggie theme tree.

Long time buddy, Carole and her hubby worked together to make this pretty lighted gift. I love it.

Girl friend Lynn, who also has an English Springer Spaniel, made the 12 Dogs Days of Christmas for Ella and me! Click to enlarge so you can see the details. She does great work.

Ella has a fun Christmas Eve. She went home with her parents. She had a pretty extended sleep-over here. The parents thought they might have to file custody papers to release her from the grandparents - but she's home for Christmas!

Be sure to check Betsy's blog http://quilteddogs.blogspot.com/
Go to her link for her on line shop. Very fun!