Spreading the Christmas Spirit

This year I participated in Abbily Ever After's Secret Ornament Swap! She had quite a job keeping track of all of the participants. I sent a Christmas box to Frannie at Sunny Little Blog. Of course I broke the rules! Julie at Abbily Ever After said we could send more if we wanted and I did! Then on Saturday, I received a box in the mail. It was so familiar! It was the box I had sent with a note from Frannie that she had my name! In the box was some amazing items!

Of course, there was an ornament. I will proudly display this beautiful cross on my tree!

There was also a journal book, a set of books by C.S. Lewis, a glittery nail file set, and an Italian cake. Good that I took a picture of the items before tonight. We ate the cake on Saturday night with our coffee.

I am so grateful to Frannie for her generosity! Visit Frannie at Sunny Little Blog and wish her a Merry Christmas! She and her husband have a little boy with a bloggy name of Punter. They are expecting their little "Bench Warmer" in June! From reading her blog she has many great friends, a wonderful supportive husband and is a huge Giants Fan.

I would also like to thank Julie at Abbily Ever After for sponsoring this exchange.

This was not the only gift for the spirit that I received. Frizzy, Bird and Yaya at Heaven's Gift gave me a Christmas Spirit Award!

The Rules are simple:

*You must be a true Christmas lover to receive this award. *The person to whom you give the award must also be in love with Christmas. *You must link back to the person who gave you the award. *You must list 5 things that you love about Christmas. *Pass the award along to as many people as you like. That can be 1 or 45; it's up to you. But, you must pass it on to at least one person in order to keep the Christmas cheer going! *Let your recipients know that you have tagged them by leaving them a comment on their blog.

The five things I love about Christmas!

1. Displaying the ornaments and decor that have been collected over the years of my life!

2. Choosing just the right gifts for family and friends to show them how much I love them!

3. Driving through the neighborhoods with lights aglow. Because we live in an historic town, many of the houses display electric candle sticks in each window. This is a Victorian tradition and so beautiful!

4. Retelling the Christmas story!

5. Listening to Christmas music!

I will give this Christmas Spirit Award to my friend Laura at Storytellin' Mama. She took her children to ride a real Polar Express where they rode in their pajamas and drank hot cocoa!

See pictures at last week's Tuesday Tale post where Laura guest posted about "The Polar Express"!

I am also giving this Award to Julie at Abbily Ever After. It was not easy keeping up with all of the mail and then posting so that everyone could read about the ornaments received. It was such a nice experience I hope she will be encouraged by everyone to continue the swap! She truly spread the Christmas spirit.

Abundance is...sharing the Christmas season with new friends!

And, in the words of my blog friend SuperCoolMom "Abundance is also being able to give and receive, with grace." So true SuperCoolMom! I love it when friends add abundance quotes to their comments!!

My friend Caroline at "The Zen In You" posted about choosing a special word for 2009 rather than a new resolution. I am choosing "ABUNDANCE" as my word for 2009, carrying it over from my blog theme for 2008. It served me well! Read more about Caroline and you will want to follow her blog in 2009! More about choosing a word after Christmas.