Carianne's Only Christmas in El Paso

This is our tree in El Paso the year that Carianne was born.  In truth we ended up selling the house right after this picture was taken and didn't even spend Christmas there.  We were out of the house by the 20th and in our new house by the New Year in San Antonio, Texas. But this does show the type of stocking I chose for our family.  The girls loved putting them on their own feet and walking around on Christmas eve.  Since I made them out of double knit fabric, they were washable and they could play with them.  We had that tree until we moved back to San Antonio the second time.

I am going to add a recipe for Homemade Christmas Simmering Potpourri.  This makes your house smell wonderful with things you have in your house!

Peels of 2 oranges or other citrus fruit
2 cinnamon sticks
12 whole cloves
5 whole allspice
1 1/2 cups water
Simmer on the stove or in a potpourri pot.  Beware that if this boils down it will ruin your pan.  A fun variation is to  use evergreen sprigs instead of the citrus peels or even added to the citrus peels.