We spent our last California Christmas (more on that later) decorating, attending holiday parties and events, seeing holiday-themed musicals, celebrating mass, and eagerly anticipating Santa and presents. In past years, I felt pressure to attend all the events and do all the things, but this year, I didn’t. Maybe we’ve done it all already in SoCal. Or maybe I’m just tired of all the crowds, traffic, and high expenses associated with doing it all. Either way, this holiday season seemed slightly slower, yet still just as fun.
Parties
The kids didn’t have any holiday parties this year, but Dan and I did! We attended his company holiday party at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort and an annual neighborhood holiday party.
Santa! We Know Him!
We saw Santa a few times – once at our community clubhouse and once at an even at Manassero Farms.
Lights
We attended the Candlelight Walk light event at our local historical park and both big girls sang carols in the old church with their Girl Scout troops. Watching this was one of the highlights of the season for me.
When my Mom was in town, we went back to Heritage Hill to see the light displays with less crowds.
At the tail end of the Christmas season, we visited the LA Arboretum and toured their Lightscape event, which was new for us and which we very much enjoyed.
Musicals
The three big kids and I saw two musicals in December. Both were good, but we much preferred the more intimate production at the community theater.
Church
Our church hosted a “Noel Night” early in December. All the choirs in the church sing and Vivian participated for the second year in a row and Lillian participated for the first year. Vivian sang with both the Children’s and Religious Education choirs and Lillian sang with the Religious Education choir and also acted as an angel.
On Christmas Eve, we attended a packed mass. Vivian sang in the choir and Lillian reprised her role as lead angel for the second year in a row.
The Big Night & Day
The kids all wore their new “ski jammies” on Christmas Eve. They set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer.
On Christmas morning, their stockings that their Grandma made for them were full. Santa came!
Irene was home on her holiday break from daycare for three weeks and the other kids were home for two weeks. We didn’t travel anywhere over the holidays this year, so we spent the holiday break staying cozy at home or exploring places nearby on our CA bucket list. Next Christmas, we’ll be celebrating at our new house in a new state!
The Chambers Family - A.D. 