a lamb makes our family complete

We are very lucky to have some of the cutest stockings around.  They are 5 of a set of 20...PRICELESS!!!
Shortly after Jed and I were married (over 12 years ago-yikes), my mother-in-law Bev approached me with what I thought at the time was a strange inquiry  "what do you want on your stocking?"

We were still puppy dog eyed, in school, and flighty.  I thought of all of the traditional Christmas characters and picked my favorite at the time, an angel.  But, Bev said no to the angel, they already had an angel in the family-her.  I remember thinking to myself, we could both have an angel, my stocking will be at my home not hers.  That was before she pulled out the four stockings that she still had at her home (Dan's, Bev's, Jed's, and Leah's) and proceeded to give me a detailed description of each.  When she was done with the four, she began to describe the other five that were now in different homes.  After the lengthy walk down memory lane, no pun intended, I again remember thinking "why does it matter what I pick,  I will be fine with whatever."

So I thought, "what else do I like?"  My next suggestion was a moose.  But that was shot down because it was too close to the reindeer that was sporting my father-in-laws name.  Scratch that off.  "Hmmm, what else do I like?  A Whale!!!"  I am pretty sure that Bev thought that was the craziest idea ever, merely by the look on her face.  "A whale, how am I going to make a whale?"

So with a whale set as my stocking character, I was in charge of finding a picture for her to base it off.  I found the perfect picture in  Stephen Cosgrove's Maui-Maui from the Serendipity Series.  I loved those books when I was a kid.

A few months later, I was presented my whale stocking and Jed was given his duck never to return to the nest...how ironic is that? 
And as each new addition to the Atherley family arrived, the collection grew.
To our own portion of the Atherley family we added a bunny and a dog.

On Thanksgiving Day, we were presented with what will most likely be the last addition to the collection.

 Little Lily, number 10 grandchild and number 20 in the Atherley's, was given a sweet lamby.  Complete with puff balls and a manger, it is truly unique, as are the other 19.

Hanging our stockings is by far our most favorite portion of decorating for Christmas.  They are so lovely, unique, and yes... priceless.

 Over the years we have received a lot of beautifully handmade gifts from Jed's mom, but I believe the stockings are our favorite.  We will cherish them always.