December 25, 2013

The Christmas season (for us) started in early November. It began with the lights and decor. We decided to gradually add lights EVERYWHERE we could (both inside and out) and put up our tree / ornaments. We did this because we figured that if we waited until around Thanksgiving, when normal people start to put up lights, it would be too cold or we would not be motivated to do it. Plus we wanted to enjoy them for more than a few short weeks so we hit the ground running. We did have to wait a few weeks before we could turn on the outside lights because we have a super lame HOA (aka Horrible, Over-paid, A-holes) but there was no hesitation with any inside lights or the tree…we had that bad boy blazing since November 5th and didn’t look back!

Another tradition we have at our house is to decorate a gingerbread (something). This year, we…okay…okay…I mean Jilly made a gingerbeard carousel with reindeer. We don’t generally eat them since the sugar is super hard after sitting out for several weeks, but we like to enjoy them as decoration.

On St. Nicholas Day (December 7th) we awoke to find gifts in our shoes. A nice little precursor to the “big day” that was looming ahead (and we couldn’t wait much longer!).

With the final piece of holiday-season prep work in the bag, we were more than ready for Christmas…all the shopping was completed by the first week of December, all the decorations were in their splendor and all we had to do is wait….and wait…..and wait……for the days to pass until the last weekend before Christmas (which is when we both took off of work) and began the real celebration!

On December 22, we celebrated the holiday a bit early with our buddies Patty and Rob (and family) and Aunt Mary. We opened gifts and such at our abode, then headed off to the Boulder Dinner Theater, to see the production of Spamalot. If you haven’t heard of this, the theater is a combination of theater and dinner (duh). Spamalot is a musical comedy that is a remake of all of the Monty Python movies from many years ago. It is completely hillarious and the actors that are in the play are also the servers. So we enjoyed a gourmet meal and a super awesome musical at the same time.

Christmas eve rolled around the bend soon thereafter. We always go to church that day, generally the early one since I need my beauty sleep, so we went to the 4pm version of midnight mass. It starts with a Children’s play and then goes into the mass. We always go to the same church every year, since it used to be about a stones’ throw from our old place, and it just doesn’t feel right if we go to any other. The thing about our church is that its a small and quaint one, with a foreign priest. Our priest was from China and his English was okay, but it gave me flash backs of the famous movie “The Christmas Story” when the family has Christmas dinner at the Chinese restaurant.

Afterwards, we hit the road to look at Christmas lights. Generally we only drive around areas we don’t see often, but since we moved to a new area, we decided to explore the adjoining neighborhoods. We FINALLY arrived at home for the new (and best) tradition we have yet to come up with…and the glory of German Christmas Dinner was born.

We (Jill) made a feast of some of our German Favorites. This included Pork Schnitzel (Jagerschnitzel), Spaetzel (German dumplings), Hunters Sauce (Bacon and Mushroom Gravy), German Green Beans, Pretzel Bread and German Chocolate Cake…OH and of course German Beer. To really get in the mood, we accompanied this with some traditional German Music, which actually sounds a lot like traditional Christmas music). Afterwards, we watched the Christmas Story, for real, and then headed off to bed.

We woke early on Christmas day to piles of presents under the tree. We both must have been very good this year! Naturally we spent the morning opening gifts and making piles of paper and boxes while listening to David Bowie (Mr Bowie is another one of our traditions, if Christmas presents are being opened at our house then David Bowie music must be played). Afterwards, we cleaned everything top-to-bottom, since we were leaving the next morning for our Arizona Family Christmas. We ate leftover German food, and watched a lot of movies / played video games while packing. All-in-all a really great Christmas at the Challis Abode.

Next: AZ Family Christmas…to be continued…