Allen Family Christmas 2015

The Lodge tree was cut from Drew and Vanessa's new home. One of four blue spruce once planted to set off a beautiful magnolia tree, they have grown too large and are now blocking the full view of the 25 foot magnolia. They wish us to take one a year to use as the Lodge Christmas tree. 

Our beautiful family, Christmas 2015.

The blue spruce proved to be the perfect Christmas tree.. though I learned just how prickly they are!

The mantel in the Root Cellar Pub reflects my love of cardinals. 

A wonderful Allen Family Christmas was once again enjoyed at the Lodge. I still pinched myself to have the stairtower as I hauled all the decorations up to the main floor of the Lodge without troubling myself to haul them out and around the entire building. The Pub is also a really fun place to decorate as it takes lots of creativity to think of ways to add holiday cheer to the family memorabilia.We spent "real Christmas" with Jess and Pete who treated us to a fabulous Frackelton holiday. So much fun to see each of the families establish their own traditions and adopt some of the ones from each others childhoods. Allen Family Christmas was celebrated on New Year's weekend. Eric fashioned a hanging rack for the stockings which was placed beneath the large window in the stairtower to greet everyone as they first arrived and remind them to fill the one whose name they had drawn. We had the fireplace for the first time this year and so the stockings are no longer able to hang from the mantel, or we should have to go without a fire. So happy to have the great memories from another wonderful holiday season.