December 21st – the first day of winter. We will take warm, sunny California winter forever!
We re-set the parameters on the GPS to reflect driving the Suzuki. Once again it performed very well and effortlessly directed us to Riverside to visit Ralph’s Auntie Gwen and Uncle Bob. We had a great visit with much laughter, which is a trademark when Uncle Bobbie is around. Exactly 30 years ago we spent Christmas with them. Dave and Kari’s highlight from that day was picking mandarin oranges in their back yard. Unfortunately, that tree does not produce much fruit now so we were not able to re-live that particular experience.
That evening we explored a “Hometown Christmas” in the old, restored part of downtown Hemet. The weather was cool but of course no rain since California has been in a drought for most of the last 3 years. There were booths with food, handmade gift items and music from the men’s choir at the local college. One antique store had a display of about 20 wedding dresses and ball gowns from the 19th century. The dresses were so small that modern women could not even begin to imagine wearing them. Thank goodness we don’t have to hold our breath and be laced into corsets!
When we returned home I watched “The Sound of Music”. I have seen it a few times before but this time I was able to relax and enjoy every moment without thinking about what else I could/should be doing. I’m learning.
The next few days were spent relaxing and putting up personal touches in our new home. We put up our Christmas tree with the special ornaments which bring back memories of family and friends and places we have visited. We only brought a few items to make this home feel like Christmas.
Sunday, December 22nd we attended Trinity Lutheran Church only a few minutes away. We were warmly welcomed and made to feel very much at home. We enjoyed the pastor and the contemporary music in a congregation that will celebrate 100 years in 2014. We returned for the Christmas Eve service and were impressed that the pastor remembered our names when the church was full with many Christmas/Easter people.
We Skyped with Kari and Lindsay and wished them a Merry Christmas as they celebrated with friends. A different Christmas but times and traditions change. Christmas Day we Skyped with Dave and Danica and saw her gifts and excitement about everything she was doing. We Skyped with other family and friends and felt like we shared their Christmas as well.
Christmas Day we drove into the San Jacinto Mountains to Idyllwild. The road has many twists, turns and switchbacks and goes up over 5000’. We enjoyed a spectacular view on the way and could not even guess how many miles we could see across the valley.
Ralph and I savoured a stress free Christmas together and shared our fun and excitement with family and friends. God has blessed us. What more could we ask?
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