Christmas in Texas

We woke up on Christmas morning and looked out the window . . . no snow, no barren trees . . . just sunshine and palm trees! That's "Christmas in Texas".


Santa had somehow managed to find us in Texas, but since we so not have a Christmas tree inside "The Bus", Santa left gifts setting on the dashboard.




We opened gifts while setting at our dining table. Gifts from all of our kids and grandkids. Thank you, all.

In the picture here, Carole is displaying the sapphire necklace Santa left for her.









After opening gifts, Carole stepped out to have her morning coffee on our patio . . . just after talking to some of our kids up North where she learned the temperature is 8 degrees and they are looking at 6 inches of new snow on the ground.

The 60 degrees here doesn't seem that bad after all.








In the afternoon, we went to the Park Clubhouse for Christmas dinner. The Park furnished ham and potatoes. Others brought vegetable dishes, salads, and desserts. Ten people were seated at a table. They had 18 tables, so we shared our Christmas dinner with 180 Winter Texans as pictured in the left photo below.

In the right photo below is our table which we, from Kansas, shared with a couple from Minnesota, a couple from New Jersey, a couple from Iowa, and a couple from Manitoba, Canada. "The Valley" in Texas during the Winter months is certainly a melting pot of people from all over the United States and Canada . . . and that makes for very interesting and fascinating conversations.
















Yes, we had plenty of home cooked food. A delicious array of dishes from a number of cultures . . . cabbage rolls, lefsa (a fried potato bread from Norway), Danish apple cake . . . and a number of dishes which were regarded as their family tradition.

It was an interesting Christmas Dinner, to say the least.


And that was our "Christmas in Texas". Merry Christmas to all!