Our Christmas holiday started at approximately 6:00PM on Friday, December 19th, when we stopped at a local house down the road from our cottage and bought a Balsam Fir for our Christmas tree.  As you may know, the area considers itself the Christmas tree capital of the world.

We had a number of visitors during the holiday including my brother Chris and his wife Anneke, and several sets of friends.

This year, we also had a tree outside on our new deck – a tradition that we hope to continue. It looked great from inside. We also had a tree inside. Trees are cheap in the middle of the forest.

As you can see, we enjoyed some spectacular, sunny weather. The -8C temperature did not stop us from going to the beach.

We also had some perfect bonfire weather, of which we took full advantage.

I have added a video just because I can. Having a bonfire in the snow is a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon.