Christmas 2008

Well, we were abroad for yet another Christmas . . . In an effort not to spend our entire Christmas thinking too much about our family and friends we have left behind and who are celebrating elsewhere without us, we managed to convince two other orphaned couples to spend the holiday with us. We all decided to rent a house for the week up in Noosa (a beach town about an hour and a half up the coast). We figured if we are going to put up with Christmas being in the summer, we might as well do it at the beach, right? Well, you never know how spending an entire week with people you only met a few months ago will turn out, especially in a house that didn't seem to believe in proper floors, walls or doors (but that is a whole other story entirely) . . .I am happy to report that we had a great time. In addition to the typical Christmas festivities of cooking way too much food and somehow eating most of it to the detriment of our own well being, we enjoyed a nice 4 x 4 trip along the beach (that's Jason's Jeep in the picture!), a lot of Wii tennis (and if you are saying to yourself right now "What the heck is a Wii?" then just ask someone under the age of 18 and I'm sure they can tell you), some diving (or at least some of us), and some surfing (ok, I passed on that too, but don't the boys look cute in their matching shirts!!) ;) And if you are wondering what 4 Brits and 2 Texans cook for Christmas dinner . . . Well, one Texan grills a turkey, 2 Brits cook a fabulous scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast (I think we are going to have to adopt that into our future Christmases!), 2 Brits cook their traditional sides to go with the turkey, and the other, less chef-like Texan just stays out of the way because that's best for everyone! :) And since I can't seem to get away from these British Christmas traditions, I finally decided to partake in the foods that have scared me these last couple of years. First, the brussel sprout . . . yea, whoever thought that was a good idea??! Needless to say, Jason had to finish it off for me. Then, there were the parsnips . . . Those were actually ok, so I can accept that as a proper food. As for dessert, I must admit the Christmas cakes and puddings were not an adequate replacement for pecan, pumpkin, or the appropriate stereotypical American pie of your choice (although the brandy butter that we put on them was divine!), but I had brought some of my mom's famous chocolate covered peanut butter balls, so I survived. Hope everyone else had an enjoyable Christmas. Good luck to you all in the new year!