HarryTheSpider

This is our first Proper Christmas in the US. Last year we were in temporary housing, belongings in a container 500 miles away.

We've just had the doorbell go - next door neighbour with card and box of lovely homemade cookies... And good chat.

Delightful...

So what other nice surprises in this vein have other BE'ers experienced?

And Happy Holidays to 1 & all!!

Harry

fatbrit

Movie in the afternoon, Zoo Lights in the evening....is our usual Christmas in Phoenix.

Noorah101

We saw "War Horse" this morning, it was GREAT!!

Rene

lansbury

Most of our family has the flu for Christmas not something they have tried before. Mrs L and I being old codgers had the sense to have flu shots, so we will see if they work.

lansbury

Glad you said that I have that on the list to go see.

HarryTheSpider

+2

Orangepants

Our neighbourhood does the ""Kringle"" Effect. A basket is left on your doorstep with a few christmas gifts & wine and then you have to spread the Kringle around the neighbourhood by putting a basket on someone else's doorstep then you put a picture of santa on your door to say you've been kringled. A variation on Secret Santa I guess.
We also do a progressive dinner on our road at Christmas - appetizer at one house, dinner at another then mayhem at the last! Great fun!

kodokan

This is our first Christmas in Phoenix too *waves to Harry Spider* having moved over a couple of months ago. (Our container arrived about 4 weeks ago, which sounds like it should have been enough time to unpack by now, but apparently wasn't.)

We had carol singers last night - I turned up at the door with purse in hand, expecting to make a charitable donation, but it turned out to be some neighbours who apparently do the rounds like this each year just to be festive, glasses in hand and slightly merry. Which has at least put paid to our wonderings about how Mormon our new street might be.

Having spent recent years in Switzerland, we're still doing Christmas on a Continental timetable of main meal on Christmas Eve. As it's just the 4 of us over Christmas, this is great as it turns the 25th into a sort of Boxing Day, where we potter gently about the house and occasionally raid the fridge for cold meats and salad. It also freed up the dining table for the copious amounts of Lego building that were necessary today.

Happy Christmas, all!

lisa67

Obviously, not having relatives to go and visit does have it's plus side. Because of this we take advantage of the kids having 2 weeks off school and usually go away on vacation.
This year we've headed to Colorado, and having a great time.
Other Christmas vacation include Vegas (yes, with 2 small kids many years ago...had a fantastic time) Orlando, South Padre Island TX, and CO once before at Christmas.

Jan Alaska

This year was our first in many years without any children at home so we started a new tradition of not getting out of bed until 10 o'clock followed by a leisurely breakfast and a snowy walk with the dog.

Steerpike

My g/f is from the Philippines, and she treats Christmas Eve more like Christmas also. Last night, we visited her nearby relatives and not only had a massive feast (crab cakes, Duck, and other delights), but also did the 'opening of presents'.

This is my first Christmas back in SF since I started working in Phoenix in 2009, so we went into San Francisco for our own 'traditional' Christmas feast - dry roasted Crab, Vietnamese style ...

Britishbees

Welcome to Phoenix. We know how you must be feeling on your first Christmas and only being here such a short time. It makes you feel rather odd. But welcome and hope you had a great Christmas Day.

Mrs H the Spider

HarryTheSpider

joins Mrs HTS in waving back...

... Our packers took less than 2 days to pack our 2 bed bungalow. You'd think unpacking in to a 5 bed house wouldn't take too long...

Wrong!!!

It took weeks... (thanks Mrs HTS for doing it all!)

Welcome... You have a few months now to find asbestos skin before the summer heat arrives!!!

tamms_1965

This is Mr. Tamms fifth Christmas here, but our first in our "new" house in the country. One of the locals is English and brought homemade mince pies and Christmas crackers, and we hosted our first annual open house for all of our new friends we've met. We had quite a mix of peeps and we're going to do it every year on Christmas Eve Eve.

AmerLisa

We are going to do this next year, even if it kills us! Every year its just the three of us, while neighbors and friends nearby are busy with relatives, it feels like we are alone on an island! Anyway, I think going away on vacation will be a much better idea than sitting here every year...