Merry Christmas from the Grouch's!

 

Merry Christmas from the Grouch family!   This year I asked for the very best present in the world:  Older Daughter and Little Lady Bug to spend Christmas with us and much to my delight it came to be!   They arrived last weekend from the east coast to spend the week with us. 

 

We started with Christmas eve mass at a local Catholic high school with a chapel on the campus.  Mass was at 4 p.m. and featured beautiful vocals and music from two guys who sang during the mass.  Our family tradition is dinner at a local Pizza Hut on Christmas eve and for many years in a row we have gone for pizza.  Why this started I have no idea but Christmas wouldn't be the same without it.   After that off to see some outdoor decorations then to bed until Christmas day.  Everyone was on hand for both Christmas eve and Christmas day including all of the grand dogs (7 dogs total and all well behaved!  Good dogs!).  Christmas brunch cooked by Citizen Grouch himself which is another Grouch family tradition and then a wonderful and filling turkey dinner in the afternoon.  The Missus handled all with aplomb and no oven fire this time.

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our family and friends across the country.

 

 

 

Older Daughter and LLB before mass on Christmas eve

 

 

The clan after mass

  

Pizza time!

  

The calm before the excitement of Christmas morning

  

Christmas lights southern California style

  

This neighborhood's display is award-winning from our town's newspaper

 

Yes, it does get cold in Southern California - mid 40s on Christmas eve

  

Let the presents unwrapping begin!

 

Older son decorated the tree with cards and gifts for the family

 

The Christmas cactus given to the Missus by her mother last year that bloomed on Christmas eve - how's that for good timing!