December - Holidays in the sun

My oh my, where has this month gone?  Do you remember when we were kids and time just seemed to drag.  Back then it felt like it took 2 years just to get through one.  Now, it seems as if it is only taking 6 months to get from January to December.

December was a fun filled month with lots of holiday entertainment and parties.  Most of the month  has been cold and actually felt as if we were back in Oregon with the gray skies, wind and rain. I think I said it before, but it is funny..... the native Arizonians love it when the skies go gray and the rains come, even the torrential down pours.  Any every 'snow-bird' is  sullen and in a bad mood until the sun comes back out.

The resort had a number of events this month to get everyone in the holiday mood, starting with the Highland High School Orchestra and Strolling Strings.  This was the 5th year the high school has come to kick off the season here and they were amazing.  This high school has 3500 students and excels in almost everything they do from sports to performing arts.  Their orchestra's and choirs have played from Carniege Hall to the Rosebowl Parade.

Our second holiday event was a cocktail party of about 60 people, mostly workampers.  The weather turned nice for a couple of days and we gathered in a vacant RV site with a great food table and live music performed by one of the Canadian residents here. 

We love to take advantage of the local theaters here in the Phoenix area and got 4 tickets to see A Christmas Carol.  We went with my brother and Mary and before the show, we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant called The Barrio.  Not in the best part of town, but OMG, what wonderful food.  Not your normal beans and rice menu......  Deane and Harry had one of their specials, a fillet Mignon filled with goat cheese and chorizo.  Mary had another special of halibut... oh yea.... all three specials came with  half of a lobster tail done to perfection.  I ordered their seafood enchilada filled with shrimp, scallops and crab, rolled in a blue corn tortilla.  Even tho this little place is small, and their location is in the more Hispanic part of town, the food was wonderful and spendy $$$$.  But so worth it!

We also attended a Christmas show put on by one of the largest churches here in the Phoenix area. A non denominational church that has a membership of over 6000.  Their production of the birth of Jesus was like a Broadway production including a live camel, elephant, tiger (in a cage),  a horse and a full orchestra.  Laser lights, angels descending from the ceiling all made for quite a production.  It was a bit overwhelming, but impressive.

December 22nd, we took a drive around the Mesa, Chandler and Gilbert areas to see some of the Christmas lights.  We found one with over 50,000 lights, one that celebrated the Nightmare before Christmas, saw more than one 20ft Grinch, and lots of houses that had their lights synced to a radio station.  The strangest one we found was a house decorated in all snowmen.  From the front of the house to the inside, where everyone was invited to tour.  Inside, every possible nook, shelf, table and counter space was covered with some type of snowman related decoration.  Even their bedspread and shower curtains were in the theme.

Christmas eve we hosted a small party in our coach and found we can comfortably have 10 of us in here at one time.  Not much room to move around and mingle, sitting was more comfortable and easier to talk to everyone, but there was definitely room for everyone to get to the table for food and drinks. 

Christmas day was nice with a little twist.  We were suppose to see Harry and Mary for dinner and then a movie, but Harry came down with a bug.  So Deane and I started our day celebrating and opening gifts, talking with the kids, then met friends for a couple of games of Boccie Ball.  Afterwards, we headed to the theater and saw Mission Impossible.  Who knew theaters on Christmas day are so packed?  The movie was good and we were on the edge of our seats for part of it and laughing at other parts.  What restaurants were open after the show were packed, so we opted for home and bean burritos  and a margarita for dinner!  Now that is one Christmas dinner we will remember and laugh about.

This week after Christmas the temperatures are finally coming back to normal and we are back in shorts and sandals.  New Years Eve party is this weekend and along with some of our friends, we have volunteered to work the party.  We will be manning the food table, listening to the music (trying not to eat so much), dancing a little and trying to stay awake until 2am.

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season.  We feel very blessed to have our family and wonderful friends, both near and far in our lives.