Our stockings are hung in the hallway instead of the mantle; there is just one tiny nativity scene (made of olive wood, which I love); the mistletoe is hung at the doorway to our bedroom; my Lennox Santa still lights up; we have festive bathroom and kitchen towels I use during the season; a lovely ornament we got from John's sister the first year we were married; and, last, but not least, our tiny Christmas tree.
On Christmas Eve we strolled through the RV park, Imperial Bonita Estates, where many homes in the village (permanent residences) and RVs here for the winter, were decorated. Luminaries lined the streets which made for a lovely scene.
We also had Christmas lights that could be seen through the windshield and some exterior decorations as well.
Mostly we watched our favorite Christmas movies, It's a Wonderful Life and Polar Express.
Christmas morning Sadie opened her presents (a new frisbee, toys, and treats) and we opened ours. Mostly, we buy gifts for our kids, but I always like to have some gifts for us to unwrap, too. Our biggest score of the season was 40 movie DVDs from Amanda. We watch movies when we have no TV reception (we do not have satellite) so we have been having a lot of fun seeing new ones (to us). Another favorite is this tiny, Bluetooth speaker. Now, it's very simple to have music outside of the RV, or anywhere for that matter.
This beautiful red-bellied woodpecker made an appearance next to our site which I took as a harbinger of happiness!
We connected with our son and family via Face Time and then our daughter after that so we could be "with them" when they opened our gifts. Our grandson, Andrew (15-months old), had fun playing with the little remote-control car we sent him (the clothes are just too boring at that age!) We put together this military shadowbox for them of medals awarded to John during his stint in the Army during the Vietnam era.
Amanda loved her new cookbook, guitar tuner, and other gifts (mostly clothes) that we sent.
We had a nice, long visit with her hearing about her hectic theatre work during the holidays. It's crazy how many shows are crammed into the week before and after Christmas. We miss seeing her during holiday, but that's the deal when theatre is your career. Here's a holiday photo of the crew for Sweet Charity.
A group of performers and crew from Blue Man Group went out together after their shows Christmas Eve for dinner, sang carols at church, bought small gifts/wrapped them/gave them to kids at the Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center. The kids and their parents loved these random acts of kindness! She said it was a fantastic night with her extended family...colleagues from the show.
Sadie had fun going to the dog park to play with her new frisbee before our Christmas dinner.
After we stuffed ourselves with a delicious holiday ham and all the fixings, we watched another Christmas favorite, Love Actually, and reminisced about Christmases past. It was a fun day and we hope your Christmas was wonderful as well.
May the New Year bring you good health, good fortune and all that you desire! Happy holidays from our family to yours.
Hey you are staying at our eastern winter hide out... love the beaches there
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