2023 Advent Calendar Blog Hop

Hi there!  Welcome to the Annual Advent Calendar Blog Hop!  This is organized by Jo over at Serendipitous Stitching each year to celebrate the countdown to Christmas.   This year I was given the 11th of December.  I have a number of things I stitched this year that pertain to Christmas and the winter season, but I guess I would have to share my favorite piece that I fully finished.  This is Xmas Mandala by Passione Ricamo.  I love this particular designer, she does some elaborate patterns.  I love this one because it shows the true meaning of Christmas for me.  It's hard to see in the picture but the words Love, Peace and Joy are stitched there in the piece.  I love nativities and collect them so this is something I truly treasure.  

We have been asked to share our Santa Stories.  I have always loved Christmas from a very young age.  It always held such magic for me.  My parents wouldn't put up the tree until we were sound asleep on Christmas eve.  We would wake up in the morning with the sheer excitement that Santa had decorated our house and left us presents.  My parents belonged to a fraternal organization in our town that helped people in need, gave scholarships to kids going to college, and other charitable acts.  Each year they would have a Christmas party, one we dressed up for in fancy dresses.  I didn't know it until I was much older, that my Dad was Santa.  He had a gorgeous velvet suit, and would bring presents to all the kids gathered there.  He would visit friends of his who had small children on Christmas Eve and give them the surprise of their lives!  One year, my Mom woke us up excitedly and said she caught Santa in the living room!  I jumped out of bed and and ran to give him a hug and say thank you for all the gifts he had given us each year, still not realizing he was my Dad...I never even wondered where my Dad was at that moment...lol!!  My sister was too scared that a stranger was in the house and stayed in her bed under the covers.  We still laugh about that to this day!  

When my son was growing up, with my husband in the military, he wasn't always home for Christmas.  So our traditions changed a wee bit.  We never lived in a place that had a chimney so we had a Magic Key that we hung on the doorknob so Santa could let himself in.  We would put Santa's name on one gift tag, the present that our son wanted the most (he was allowed to ask Santa for one gift).  One year he asked for a Wii at the very last minute.  They were sold out everywhere and I would check the stores daily.  On Christmas eve that year I found a store that had ONE left and they sold it to me.  I had to sneak it in the house when he wasn't looking.  That Christmas eve we set the game console up in the basement, not under the tree.  Christmas morning he calmly checked out his presents, opening the biggest ones first until he realized the Wii wasn't under the tree.  When all the gifts had been opened, he asked to go downstairs to play while we worked on Christmas dinner.  When he reached the bottom of the stairs and found the console he started jumping up and down shouting He Came, He Came!  LOL  To see his excitement gave us such joy...he's always been such a good kid, it was fun to surprise him like that.  We do have a tradition of hanging stockings, so this little decoration I stitched up this year has a special meaning to me!  

I'm looking forward to seeing our Granddaughter's reaction to the holiday.  She has already had her picture taken with Santa and she did great sitting on his lap.  I'm not sure what traditions they will start with her, but I'm excited to find out!  I can't wait for Christmas this year!!  

To you and your family, I wish you a very Merry Christmas and all the best in the coming New Year!  Happy 11th Day of December!

Happy Stitching!