Christmas Eve 2011

To me, Christmas is all about spending time with family and sharing the holiday traditions of the past, often spiced up with some modern improvements. Yesterday, I headed up to my parent's house to get a start on Christmas weekend.

Remember my humble little Charlie Brown Christmas tree? Well, this is what my tree aspires to be when it grows up.

One of my favorite pre-Christmas traditions is making Christmas cookies with my mom. We got in just under the wire this year, finishing up last night after dinner.

And speaking of dinner, Christmas Eve tamales. Best Christmas Eve tradition there is. I would have taken a picture but we inhaled them so quickly there wasn't time. Instead here's how the cookies turned out.

Merry Christmas. Hope you're all spending this weekend in a way that makes you exceptionally happy. Gotta run now, I smell gingerbread coming out of the oven.