On Monday, both Dad and I had to have our annual eye check-up. The optometrist was new to us (she only came 7 months ago), but she was very nice (much friendlier than the previous guy) and very thorough. It turned out that Dad's eyes had gotten better and my one eye had changed just a tiny bit. We both ordered new glasses (Dad got two: one regular and one sunglasses) - Dad got very similar frames and mine were a bit different in colour (when we get them in the new year, I will send a pic of us wearing the new ones).
That evening, we drove around HB to look at the Christmas lights - the local council sponsors a Christmas lights competition and the location of the entries are posted in one of the local newspapers. (note: Warren, you were right when you said that not very many people decorate up their houses with lights here in HB - we noticed that right away as we began our drive). However, the houses which did light up did a fabulous job!
We wanted to do something special for Christmas Eve and decided to start our own tradition - a mixture of Canadian and Australian - so we decided that we would have pavlovas and eggnog in the evening. We didn't want to get a large pavlova and so we bought small pavlova bases and then bought whipping cream (they call it thickened cream here) and strawberries and bananas. We looked for eggnog at the grocery store and couldn't find any left - so, we hit every other large grocery store in HB and FINALLY found one 500ml carton at the last store. Eggnog here is very different - it's not as flavourful or yellow as the Canadian kind. But at least we had some (note to ourselves: search for it sooner than the day before Christmas next year!). The pavs were very yummy - I am liking this new tradition! :-)
Christmas Day was very relaxing. We started out with a yummy breakfast of poached eggs on toast (and made a note to get bacon next year). We had planned on going down to the beach for lunch around noon, but realized (too late) that we hadn't taken out the steaks to thaw, so we ended up going down to the beach around 3pm. We found a barbecue and picnic table empty close to the ocean and set up there. Dad and I cooked the steaks (medium) and the prawns (shrimp) on the barbecue and then sat down to a delicious meal (we also had potato salad and fresh fruit (pineapple, watermelon, rockmelon and grapes). We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day - the temperature was about 28C, the sky was blue and the sun was shining. After eating and cleaning up, we went for a very long walk along the beach - we love to walk just at the edge of the water (it was so warm that day). By the time we started our walk, it was 4pm (a great time to walk) - and so, even though we didn't get to the beach when planned, we have decided that the time we did go to eat was a better time, so next year, we will do the same. Since we ate lunch so late, we didn't want anything for dinner at the regular time and ended up just having soup later on. We also had bought a Christmas cake from the Lion's Club (community service group) which we had for dessert - we ate it with custard and a caramel sauce which Dad made from Grandma Gall's recipe - most delicious! We read the story of Jesus' birth from the scriptures and then called Terri-Ann and family via Skype so that we could see the boys open their gift from us (a GPS so that they can go geocaching) which they loved and can't wait to use.
Dad preparing the prawns (peeling them)
Dad showing the size of the prawns
The view from our picnic table for our Christmas Day barbie at the beach
Another view from our picnic table
Blue blubber jellyfish stranded on the shore
Pelican enjoying Christmas Day at the beach
Dad wanted our usual 'Canadian Christmas dinner' and so we decided to do that on Boxing Day. We bought a frozen turkey breast and a fresh lamb roast and kept both in the freezer. Again, we were not on the ball and forgot to take them out of the freezer so that they were ready to cook on the 26th (another plan foiled). We had planned to have the missionaries over for dinner on Friday and so we had our Canadian Christmas dinner yesterday (Saturday). Besides the meat, we had roast potatoes and carrots, peas, sweet potatoes (for Dad), stuffing (from a packet - not anywhere near as good as Stuff 'n Such), gravy and tomato juice. Everything (except for the stuffing) turned out perfectly and we enjoyed our dinner very much. We have made a list of all the things we want to remember for next year's celebrations and so we should be a little more prepared compared to this year.
We haven't had the missionaries over for ages since we have been away for so much this year, so it was nice to have them over for dinner and to get to know them a little better. We were planning on eating outside since the sun doesn't go down until 7pm now since it's summer, but after cleaning our outdoor set and patio, it turned out that things were too wet to sit on and so the meal moved inside. Dad did a yummy barbecue of chicken, hamburgers and sausages - we are really enjoying all the use we are getting out of this barbecue! During dinner, we were talking to the missionaries about how we used to play Cribbage with the missionaries in days gone by. They asked us if we could show them how to play and so we played a couple of games. They caught on really quickly and we had a lot of fun (just for the record: Elder T. and I skunked Elder Packer and Dad in the first game [I taught Elder T. how to sniff sniff like he was smelling a skunk
Elder Packer and Elder T.
We also enjoyed a Skype time with Jennifer and Sienna on Christmas evening (so Sienna could show us her many Christmas gifts) and with Terri-Ann and the kids so they could tell us what else they got for Christmas. We also Skyped with Krystal and the boys on Thursday so that they could tell us what gifts they received from Santa (and from Krystal and Jesse). We were also able to talk with both of our moms via Skype to telephone. I LOVE Skype!!! So, even though we weren't in Canada for Christmas this year, we were still able to spend time with our families - and for that kind of technology, we are very grateful!
Look what showed up at our house this week :-) Dad bought these for me when we were in Canada and surprised me with them on Christmas morning. I LOVE giraffes!!!
I only got in two swims this week (Monday and Friday), so I am hoping to get back to three swims this week. Dad and I also got in some more cleaning (we're doing our spring cleaning now as we are both off work and will be in the future, so we thought that doing it at this time of year was a good idea and an easy time to remember to do it each year). We slacked off on our walks this week - I think we only got in the one on Christmas Day - and so we need to be more diligent in that as well. We have both put on weight since we got back and I was hoping not to put on any over this period - ah well, after New Year's, we will get back to it.
