December 26, 2009 9:45 p.m.
Well I cannot remember when we have had a happier, more satisfying Christmas season (and day). In fact, all of us, particularly the children, fell into bed at the end of the day full of contentment and happiness.

Our Christmas Eve featured a candlelight service, "lessons and carols" at church, where the children sang "Gloria Christus Natus Est" like angels. I did not take any photos at church so you will have to take on faith that it was lovely.

Once home, we had eggnog and snacks.













Candy canes, cookies and letters were left out for Santa Claus. Little Son left a small light on for him, and advised him to turn it off when before leaving.








Then the children were nestled all snug in their beds.




Around 7:00 a.m. there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.




Impatient children were kneeling by the chimney, with care. Could it be that the stockings were bulging?













To our shock and amazement, Baby Girl discovered an elf hiding under the sofa.















After opening and spreading stocking stuffers all over the hearth,










a hearty breakfast was enjoyed, French toast for all.












At first the family room looked pretty good.
Neat enough to take a photo of the children in front of the tree.














But four hours later, the room looked....oh.... just a little bit different!













This was the year that Baby Girl and Little Son both did their own Christmas shopping, for their parents, and for each other. And they used their own hard earned cash to pay for the items (at least part of the cost). In this way, Self-Reliant Man received a special type of shaver and a hiking pole, I received a battery-operated foot massager and a violet shirt, Little Son received a water bottle and some Matchbox cars, and Baby Girl received a battery-operated hamster in a ball.

Thanks to the Eezy-Bake oven, we now have a baker in our home.












Also, thanks to Viv-tar, we have a new digital photographer. Watch out world!















During the mid-afternoon, we dressed up and got in the car for a one hour drive to the town of Celebration. A Spanish - Cuban restaurant, named Col*mbia, has a long standing tradition of serving up a great Christmas dinner.





The entire family enjoyed the traditional "American" Christmas dinner of Baked Virginia Ham, except myself -- I chose the traditional Cuban Christmas dinner of "Lechon Asado" (marinated roast pork) served with mojo (sauce), yuca (root) , moros y cristianos (rice and beans) and platanos moduros (plantains). Sooo good!!



After dinner, we decided to walk around the town of Celebration to see the sights.

Floridians are great braggers about not having any snow in the winter, but give some of them a chance to pretend, and they will seize it. Here is one form of Florida snow dished out on Mark*t Street in Celebration.




Sheesh.... pathetic!








Dusk arrived as we were walking the streets of Celebration. There are many beautiful and quaint style homes here, and many were decorated (although not as many as I expected). Here are just a few..




































All of the homes in Celebration are less than 10-15 years old. Celebration was developed by the Mouse House Company in the early 1990s. The homes are quite expensive for their size. Sadly, we noticed as we walked around that there were some homes that had been abandoned by their owners; others were already for sale. The recession has definitely affected this community.






After night arrived, we enjoyed another Florida "snowfall" on Market Street.










Christmas Day ended with us back home, having a relaxing evening, until the children finally announced that they were ready for sleep.

A good year, a happy Christmas, and a healthy, happy family.

God Blessed us, everyone!


UPDATE: Self-Reliant Man presented me with yet another present today... after a day's hard work, he demonstrated to me that he has repaired our garage door opener, at a cost of under $30. I am very happy about this, as our opener had been broken for so long that I forgot we ever had one. Way to go, Self-Reliant Man!