amethyst73 | Christmas in California, 2008

Certain of my friends (most notably

hoshikage) have been posting pictures of the snow they've received this year for Christmas. I thought I'd post a few pictures of my own in return. All the photos on this page were taken earlier today - yes, all of them!

The huz and I started out this morning with Christmas gifts to each other. I gave him Ratatouille and the first two volumes of The Sandman - the latter seemed particularly appropriate, as we spent the first chunk of vacation watching Mirrormask and the bonus material therein. He gave me Paprika, which we really enjoyed when we saw it in the theater, and Millenium Actress, a film by the same director, and which got wonderful reviews when it came out, but we never found a local showing of. I'm quite excited and looking forward to watching both. :)

Next, we put together gift boxes of the truffles we'd made for some family members.

Then we went for a walk.

California in December is not like a fair portion of the rest of the country. The Bay Area, instead of getting snow, gets multiple seasons simultaneously: fall, with pretty foliage,

spring, with irises ready to bloom,

summer.... okay, maybe not summer, but I thought the liveoaks against the sky looked neat,

and evidence that Christmas comes, even out here.

The weather was quite changeable, as it tends to be this time of year. It was raining and blowing pretty strongly when we woke up, then the sun came out for a while (during which time we walked), and we got sprinkled on as we headed home. There was even a rainbow briefly, but the sun went in before I could get a shot of it.

We then went over to the huz's parents for Christmas celebrations. His aunt and uncle had brought Christmas crackers for everyone - even the two-year-old (see the highchair?).

Eventually all ten of us were there: the huz's parents, us, his aunt and uncle, and his brother, brother's wife, and their two children. Their elder child, a charming girl of five, loved the strawberry-shaped purse that her grandmother gave her, spending much of the afternoon collecting small items and doodads to go into it. Their little boy is two, and is the happiest kid I think I've ever seen. He has this tremendous grin on his face - I kid you not - something like 95% of the time. He adored his present from grandma and gramdpa: a toy toolbox, in which the tools in their box jounce up and down and sing an aggressively cheerful song about how "We'll fix it together!" at the press of a button, as often as the button gets pressed... which was a lot. But even the grownups had a good time.

We've spent the evening at home quietly, with cups of tea and the "Jaynestown" episode of Serenity off of hulu. Merry December 25th to all, and to all a good night!