Christmas Day

Ah there were no gifts to open under our tree this year as we opened each as we received them like we were little kids no one to tell us NO wait till Christmas! One part of me wanted to wait but the kid side took over and glad it did! There is something to be said for spreading out the excitement of gift opening over a few days! We bought ourselves gifts at the Gem Show as well as gifts for our kids and grandkids, special gifts that can only be bought at such places, especially since all were Arizona created and most gems mined right here is this area we are staying at. We love to acquire items from the local area when we can. We received some awesome pictures of our grandchildren and families, as well as some great items from the HR Gift Exchange, a web forum we belong to and members who choose to, sign up for a gift exchange. There are members from the States and Canada and you never know who has your name until you receive the gift, it is always fun. One member looks after the list, picks the names and then emails everyone with the pertinent information, i.e. name of member, address and their hobbies, so it works well! We spent a relaxing day, walking dogs, cooking our contribution to the park Christmas Dinner and we shared a glass of wine with our friends Jane and Dennis. We attempted to call our kids (cell service is terrible here) and managed to chat with Michelle and Chris for a short time, they were enjoying a quiet Christmas and will drive to Calgary to spend time with Chris’s parents on the 27th. Dinner at the clubhouse and the gift exchange rounded out our Christmas Day. The gift exchange is such fun, everyone gets a number, chooses a gift, then can steal someone else’s gift if they choose to, lots of laughter, teasing and always fun to see what the hot items are, last year it was a set of Christmas Dolls that a lady in the park had made, they were beautiful. The rule is that one gift can only move twice after it has been chosen; otherwise the exchanging could carry on for days!!! Woody video taped the gift exchange this year so we could enjoy it over and over and of course we will share it with any of our friends if they would like a copy once I get the DVD created. Speaking of the DVD, I should post this now and get on with creating the DVD.
Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!



Our friends Jane and Dennis from Ontario, Canada.

Left at the table, Georgina, Anne, Jim Activity Coordinators here and friends, Sylvia, Ken (hiding) park staff, right is Erica and Jerry friends from last year..

Facing the camera Jen and Mike.

Lenore and Mike friends from last year.

You can see the marvelous variety of food, myself checking out the desert table and others enjoying the food and friendship.

To the right is Kim, park staff and our neighbors Mary and Jake.

This couple really got into the Christmas spirit, sorry I do not know their names.

Jim and Shirley were here last year also, did not mange to grab a photo of Shirley though.

We meet Carol and her husband walking in the park every morning while we walk the dogs!

This little penguin was created by Jen, I just had to have a picture of him, he is too cute to eat!

He is made of nougat, jelly beans, dried fruit, liquorish and gummies. I ate the rice crispy bar but still have the little penguin!

We feel blessed to have such great friends to share Christmas with!