a merry little Christmas...

Well, we did it. Christmas #1 in California, complete. At first, I was apprehensive about being away from the regular Christmas routine in which we have participated for the last SEVEN years; but I have to say, all in all, we had a lovely Christmas here in the land of baywater and palm trees. We managed to maintain enough of our traditions to make it seel like Christmas, and even started a couple of new ones. The biggest challenge was finding enough people to give baked goods. I guess I need to make more friends before next Christms!
The season started with Karson picking out a Christms dress in mid-November. We put up our tree, which we bought at Keith's favorite local nursery, in the regular snowman-decked manner the first weekend of December. Karson had parties at school and at LEAPS (after school program)and hosted an adorable "12 Days of Christmas" for her friend next door. Keith and I both had parties for work, and I wrote an ode to eighth graders (we are studying poetry) and attached to some fudge and dream bars for my students.
When Christmas Eve FINALLY arrived Karson decided to warm up the season with a temp of 103 degrees and some vomitting just for extra merriment. Although I hate to see her sick, it was great to have her sleep all day while Keith and I cooked, cleaned, and put the final touches on our decorations for Christmas Eve dinner. We visited with the family back East on the webcam during Grandma and Jido's Christmas Eve gathering. Somehow, that was when Karson miraculously got better. She opened a present from Grandma and Jido, American Girl Ruthie, and smiled at her cousins and grandparents from 3000 miles away. After our visit, OUR visiters arrived, my sister and entourage. We enjoyed a scrumptious dinner, compliments of Keith, the highlight of which was a mushroom and gargonzola stuffed beef tenderloin in a burgundy wine sauce. I married well, what can I say? After dinner and a visit, Karson and Mason checked in with the Santa tracker and realized he was on his way up the west coast, having already visited the rest of the country. We said goodnight and put Karson to bed. She slept in her Christmas dress, "I want Santa to see it!" and konked right out, only to wake up at 1:30 AM to find the big guy had already been there. It took more than a little coaxing to coherce her back to bed without opening any gifts, and more coaxing at 2:30, 3:00, 3:30, 5:00, and 6:00. She put forth arguments such as, "this is the longest night ever!" and "I always wake up in Massachusetts on Christmas and it's already morning there!" After dad had declared "The New Rule" (nobody gets up before 7 on Xmas AM), we dug into the goodies. Karson was truly overwhelmed, not just by Santa, but by the generosity of her friends and family. She suggested we put some of the gifts in the garage because she couldn't even look at them all at once and played with a slinky from her stocking for the next hour, ignoring the Wii, new dolls, art supplies, and so forth. Keith and I laughed, and then took a much needed nap.
We spent the day resting and visiting with family via phone and webcam, then went to my sister's house in San Francisco for more celebratory jubilance. We played on Mason's Wii and ate a beautiful dinner. Christmas ended with all of us crashing into bed, completely spent, even with our less-rigorous Christmas schedule. I lay in bed last night feeling blessed. Even though I was apprehensive about Christmas in a new home, everything had been beautiful.