While some Families may rush to be done with Christmas and put everything away as soon as possible and heave a sigh of relief that it's finally over, our Family takes a much different approach, we linger in Christmas and continue to revel in the Joy and wonder of it. We tend to put Christmas decor up early and take it down late, we have a Family Tradition of taking a last look at Christmas. We will consider those sights we want to see again one last time or we may have missed entirely in the hustle and bustle of pre-Holiday preparations, celebrations, time constraints, hectic shopping and seasonal commitments. We will take long leisurely strolls through neighborhoods during the day to soak in their Holiday atmosphere before everyone takes their decorations down... and talk about everything and anything together. We will drive through the same neighborhoods in the evening to delight in the Holiday Light displays before they're snuffed out for another Season and visit as many lovely Churches as we can to see how the Houses of the Lord are decked for His Birthday. We will go out of our way to window shop and pretend that if we had unlimited resources and spared no expense, what decorations would we amass and decorate future Christmases with, what delights our eyes most and what do we like best? Such as these Antique and Vintage Mercury Glass beauties, some quite unusual and very old. The European Antique Ballerina was my Grand-Daughter's favorite and the Birds and Ship were my Grandson's favorites. We may discover that some of our favorite Holiday decor has been marked down or are down to one last set and pick up a few pieces... such as these delightful Metal Sacred Hearts from Cottage Garden that I plan to turn into Jewelry after they Grace our Holiday vignettes and Tree this year... and the delicate Sacred Hearts acquired online from Ozma Of Odds... the very last set *whew*, which I had been admiring in the Posts of others and sought out and snapped up before they were all gone! Some pieces may linger in my vignettes long after Christmas... because in our Home the Spirit and meaning of Christmas is in our Hearts daily as we cultivate our relationship with our Lord and invite Him in to do Life with us. Which I believe is the Gift He cherishes most from each of us long after the celebrations have ended for the Holiday that celebrates His Birth. May Christmas not just be a specific day, a mere Holiday, an event, the outward decorating, shopping and celebrating... may Christmas be far more than that as you draw close to Him in your daily lives and keep Him in your Hearts and Minds long past the Holiday Season. Because He will draw close to you 24-7 and 365 days of each year... every year... and even into eternity... that is something you can count on and look forward to each day and that is a Gift to us that is better than anything we can find underneath our Christmas Trees... and sharing Him and His Good News is by far the most lasting Gift we can give to others. And the most amazing part is that it costs us nothing because He already paid the price for this most priceless of Gifts God sacrificially gave and wants each of us to continue to be a part of giving to those who haven't yet received His wonderful Gift... because what good is any Gift, no matter how wonderful and amazing, if it has not yet been received and enjoyed... Dawn... The Bohemian