Christmas Day

We had a really great Christmas - even though it rained the entire day. Not a very traditional Australian Christmas, weather wise, but it was what we got.

We started off with Christmas morning at our house, with breakfast and then presents. I got lots of practical stuff that I'd asked for, like a music stand for my sheet music, a new 2010 diary, new camera lenses, etc.

At about lunch time, we went over to Ronda's house for Christmas festivities. Ronda is a family friend, the mother-in-law of Aleata who we have known for years. We celebrate Christmas with Aleata & Adam and their kids Zack & Chelsea, Helen & Kearney (Aleata's mum & dad), Ronda (Adam's mum), Luke (Adam's brother) and Carwyn (Aleata's brother). This year, Pip (Carwyn's wife, they got married earlier this year) and her daughter Sofia came along too. Every year, each family takes a turn at hosting Christmas. Last year Christmas was at our house. This year it was at Ronda's and next year it will be at Aleata & Adam's.

Anyway, every year we have a Bocce tournament. We even have a trophy that gets engraved with the winner's name each year. But last year, we started a new tradition, and it can be said to rival the Olympics. We have 5 games, and everyone is entered into the competition, their names drawn out of a hat to see who the couples will be that verse each other. We have big pieces of paper for each game, drawn up like scoreboards. Everyone starts out playing in the first round (unless they have a bye) and then the winner of the first couple takes on the winner of the second couple, and so on. That becomes the quarter final, then we have the semi final, and then the grand final. But it's not just the grand finalist that wins. Oh no, it's far more complicated than that! The grand finalist of each game gets 5 points, the runner up 4, those in the semi final get 3, and so on.

After every game (there's Pass the Ball, Pin Cup, Two-Up, Golf & Bocce) the points are tallied. This year, because of the rain, we didn't get to do all of the games because we were outside. While we sat under big tents for most of the day, the games needed lots of space, and with the rain, the grass turned into mud pretty quickly.

Nevertheless, 9 year old Zack was crowned Bocce Champion, and that night he apparently slept next to the trophy! I didn't see his victory, because I left to go spend time with my girlfriends since we normally don't see each other much at Christmas. We had lots of fun just exchanging gifts, eating leftover food and generally hanging out, catching up and laughing.

It was good to be able to celebrate Christmas with both groups of people. The Christmas lunch and related festivities were great, but nothing beats hanging out with your girlfriends, eating, laughing and celebrating another Christmas.