Christmas is coming...

[stargazer]

I continue the celebration in that I leave the decorations up and listen to Christmas music should the mood strike.

We're at my brother's house near Seattle for the holidays, and by his custom we opened the gifts Christmas morning. Imagine our surprise when my nephew announced "it's snowing!" while we were doing so. It lasted for about 10 minutes and then was gone.

Snow is quite unusual here, I'm led to believe. So having it appear, in big fluffy flakes falling just as we were opening gifts, couldn't help making me think of those sentimental Christmas movies where someone wants snow and it appears at just the right moment.

[waggawerewolf27]

Mercifully, we don't have to worry about the twelve days of Christmas, apart from living on left-overs and clearing away the used wrapping paper. Since the tree never went up, it doesn't have to be pulled down by Epiphany (January 6th), which is the last day of Christmas. One of our children bought boxes for everyone in the family in which were her presents, sort of a good idea, since that is also associated with Boxing Day.

We found an Australian version of the 12 days of Christmas which goes something like this:

On the first day of Christmas my true love sent to me....

A kookaburra in a gum tree.
Two snakes on skis
Three wet galahs
Four lyrebirds
Five kangaroos
Six sharks a-swimming (we certainly got plenty of these this year - another sign of El Nino)
Seven emus laying
Eight dingos dancing
Nine crocs a-snoozing
Ten wombats washing
Eleven lizards leaping
Twelve possums playing
...

And a kookaburra in a gum tree.

[SnowAngel]

My stocking stuffers included three makeup brushes, mascara, chocolate covered blueberries (yummy!), a ratcheting precision screwdriver, and two necklaces with matching earrings. I got a short sleeve red and black dress (so cute!), a black hoodie, a couple of turtlenecks, and a black vest. Oh, and slippers on Christmas Eve.

My favorite presents are the chocolate, the screwdriver, purple necklace, and the dress. The screwdriver was such an fun and unexpected gift from my Dad.

And with Christmas money from my grandparents I purchased a couple of gray hats, one is a wool cap and the other beret with sparkly pieces on one side of it. I love both, but the sparkles on the beret have quickly made it one of my favorite hats to wear.

Christmas lunch was meatballs, scalloped potatoes, cranberry salad, and mix veggies. It was so delicious. For dessert, which we eat really late in the afternoon, I made a chocolate raspberry trifle with whipped cream. I tried to take a picture of it, but it was one of those desserts that I just couldn't get a good picture of. That did not affect the taste one bit! Since it was buttermilk brownies layered with chocolate ganache and raspberries it had to be good and it was.

We sort of celebrate the twelve days of Christmas. Several years ago we added to our advent calendar, so it starts the 1st of December and the last piece goes up on the 6th of January. The kids love it. It's a fun way to make the Christmas season last a little bit longer.

On the 6th of January (Epiphany) my parents give us a few smaller presents or something to share like a board game. And we have a special dessert.

SnowAngel