Merry Christmas to one and all! 

Christmas this year was indeed awesome. We didn't get snow, but the temps dropped down to 9 degrees, so we did get some ice here and there. 

I also tried my hand at making a non-alcoholic mead for Christmas. As one might expect, it was extremely sweet - even though I deliberately used less honey than the recipe called for!

We attended a Christmas morning service, then spent the rest of the day with the family... which inevitably resulted in a maelstrom of wrapping paper, screaming kids, and toys around the Christmas Tree. As is tradition.

My gifts included a new ESV Study Bible (with pictures!!! ) and a book on Puritan history by Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones. Among other things (the clothes/pajamas I mentioned earlier), I got a couple of medieval coins (a 15th century Spanish bronze piece and a 13th century Byzantine coin, to be precise) and a medieval horn cup - the furnishings for my castle are growing!

I also got a DVD of Laurence Olivier's Richard III... looking forward to his infamously hammy performance. I might do a review of it on my blog later, idk.

That night, I noticed one brighter-than-usual star hovering not far above the horizon. For a minute I wondered if... nah.

@snowangel, the gifts sound awesome! Perry Mason is a favorite with my family as well. 

@Col Klink, congrats on getting a live tree! Hope it went easy on the needle-shedding!

Christmas tends to fade away slowly at our house. The decorations stay up and the leftover candy and cookies are slowly eaten. Any gift cards we get also keep on giving over the next month, so Christmas celebrations are definitely not over!

Work has been pretty stressful lately, so the chance to unwind and celebrate over a few days has been great. Here's to a splendid New Year!

And a Merry Christmas! Long Live the True King!