Christmas in California
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2007
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44
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Trip End
Jan 15, 2008
Los Angeles, California
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Christmas in California is quite an affair! Have never seen so many decorated homes, gardens and even cars, and the shops were brimming with the most exquisite Xmas goodies that were very tempting to buy. Some families even get a few tons of snow brought it and dumped in the garden to complete the picture!
The preparations for Christmas included the very important task of choosing the right tree from a charity sale, (being sure to check the height and space between the fronds for decorations), then deciding on how it would be decorated, (colours and style), putting up the decorations with the lights and real tree candles, and then making up the tree cookies which had to be iced and decorated before being placed on the tree. Quite a ritual - but we all enjoyed it and got fully involved.
We were lucky enough to attend the musical production of the 'Glory of Christmas' at the Glass Cathedral in Anaheim which was quite something. Professional singers and actors, live animals and flying angels all made it a very impressive nativity show.
Christmas parties are very much the thing here in the days leading up to Christmas and we were quite overwhelmed with one party where a very expensive Santa was invited to entertain the guests - it was rather jolly!!
Christmas Eve was spent with friends (22 of us in total) starting with outdoor cocktails, followed by a full on traditional turkey dinner with all the trimmings, entertainment laid on by all the guests under the age of 21, followed by the most delicious desserts, cheese, biscuits, coffee and port. Tom, Rob, Peter and Josh performed a top notch rap song/dance which was very slick and hilarious to watch.
Santa was played by Peter Foster the next morning and although we knew it would be a lean Xmas gift-wise, it was a really good one, especially sharing it with close family. Had a scrumptious late breakfast, and another huge family Christmas dinner that night - this time with glazed honey ham and chicken (Rob's request). All this with lots of fireside chats, family tales and many glasses of wine!
Boxing day was spent at the beach, trying to be a bit more active with all the eating and drinking that had taken place in the last 36 hours.
Thanks Steffen, Debs and Peter for a very special Christmas in your home, and one that we'll always remember very fondly.
