Saturday December 25, 2010
Boulder, Colorado
Picture Perfect Day
Santa and his reindeer made his way to Boulder, Colorado last nite and dropped presents and filled the Christmas stockings with lots of goodies.
Yes, I'm in Boulder, Coloroado with my sister's family. It is sooo nice to be back in the States to celebrate X'mas with the family again. And it is exactly what I needed to recover from the loss of Skipper. Christmas in America is special as it is about family and celebrating our blessings and giving to those who are less fortunate. And to me, because my country is involved in two wars, it is especially about hoping for peace on earth so we no longer have to read about the suffering that still exists on this planet.
"Jackson" and I made X'mas cookies on X'mas Eve. I have Jackson in quotes because he ended up just being the taste tester.:))
Ninja Gingerbread Cookies: Took forever to make!
All was quiet the night before X'mas
I woke up early on Christmas to the view of the Dog Star (Sirius) shining brightly through my bedroom window. How apropros as my first thought as I woke up was how Skipper is doing on the other side of the rainbow. A few minutes later, Jackson came down (he was awake at 615AM!) so excited but was not allowed to touch anything until the rest of the family wakes up. He was so excited so to calm him down, he watched cartoons on TV.
Zuma waiting patiently to open his stocking on X'mas morning.
Around 8am, the last person to wake up, was my 15 year old nephew Billy so Jackson jumped off the couch as was ready to open the presents. Even Zuma had a tough time waiting as he could see the frisbee and smell the treat in his stocking. So Jackson and Zuma were the first to open their stockings. Jackson is 10 years old, soon to be 11. It's such a joy to watch his excitement. And what's great about him, is that every year he declares that "This is the best X'mas I've ever had!".
Jackson with one of his gifts
It took a good 3 hours to open all the presents from Santa and the family. I got the kids courtside tickets to the Harlem Globetrotters games and a set of French Laguiole steak knives as the kids love steak. Jackson got the Wii games he wanted, a razor scooter, headsets and lots of fun toys. Billy got the Dr. Dre headphones he wanted and some very cool clothes. My favorite gifts were the homemade beeswax candles that Jackson made me and the "See No Evil" monkey lamp that Billy gave me. Billy remembered that I really liked the "hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil" Buddhist proverb. He always manages to surprise me!
Billy, who gave me a very thoughtful gift.
After opening presents, we had a good breakfast of eggs, bacon and Sara Lee's coffe cake, that is part of the Hussey tradition and also the Snowdon family tradition that both my sister and I are not too fond of :)). Anyhow, the afternoon was spent, getting ready for the special X'mas dinner while the kids enjoyed their presents.
We did have a bit of a drama though. While my sister went shopping for last minute ingredients and my brother-in-law was napping, Zuma, the family dog, managed to jump the fence and chased a coyote. Well, what Zuma did not know was that the coyote was trying to tire him out as 2 other coyote's were laying low and surrounding him. Fortunately, some joggers got wind of what was happening and rescued Zuma and took him to the dog park. We got a phone call from the rescuer and that is how we found out Zuma was missing from the backyard! I ran to the dog park to get him. So Zuma now no longer can go out the backyard unattended.
Dinner was fabulous. We made roasted winter vegetables, garlic roasted mushrooms, creamed spinach, grilled ribeye steaks with maitre'd hotel and scallops for Bill as he is a vegetarian. And of course, biscuits. For dessert we had tiramisu cake and the Xmas cookies. So stuffed, but it was a FUN dinner.
My sister's X'mas Dinner table. She is so talented!
The boys were first to be seated but had to wait for the adults to be seated and to say our X'mas prayers.
It was a good Christmas not only for my family but also for ME! Forgot all the bad stuff that happened this year, remembered with happiness and not sorrow Skipper and Professor who passed away this year, and had a Merry Christmas!
Happy Holidays Everyone and Peace on Earth !
Scenes of X'mas in SoCal: Westlake Village
Malibu
The Grove @Los Angeles
Farmers Market@Los Angeles