I love the holidays and this year look forward to them with a special sense of excitement.  Not only do I have a wonderful husband and THREE beautiful children but my mother will be with us.  Of course, the highlight for me is experiencing the holidays with Lydia for the first time.  I know she won't remember them and in some ways this first holiday season is more for me then her but I will remember and I can only hope that these experiences will add to her sense of well being and love.

Last night was perhaps the official kick off to the holiday season.  We have a delightful specialty grocery store in our neightborhood that put on a holiday feast tasting for the neighborhood.  Local vendors were there handing out samples of their vairous holiday food.  In addition, the grocery store itself put on quite the spread with ham, turkey, stuffing, gravy, fish, prime rib, pumpkin pie, mouse, fruit...basically EVERYTHING you could think of for a holiday meal.  Not only was the food great (with perhaps the exception of the stuffing but then again, I'm a stuffing snob) but there was a definite festive feel in the air.  Everyone was warm and friendly and enjoying themselves. 

Lydia got to sample mashed potatos, stuffing and pumpkin pie all for the first time.  She loved it all!  She was also her sweet, charming self smiling at just about everyone.  It was a lot of fun and something I would enjoy making a holiday tradition.