Quiet Christmas

For the first time in 35 years (oops! There goes my age...), we are home for Christmas with no family in town. When it came about that we were all staying put in our respective homes for Christmas, I actually had mixed feelings.

On the one hand, we finally don't need to travel (although last minute, we decided to go to D.C. for New Year's and after) and we can stay home and relax. We can make our own Christmas traditions and be a family.

On the other hand, that thought of starting our own traditions was a little frightening. There's a mindless comfort in doing the same thing year after year. I'm totally used to the big Christmas Eve bash with a Chinese Santa, Christmas morning National Cathedral service, Christmas dim sum, and Christmas afternoon nap. Even the year that my family visited us in CA for Christmas, we did a version of the "Lih" Christmas, going to Grace Cathedral in the city and dim sum afterward. The thought about making our own traditions, including not doing most of my childhood traditions, was weird.

But here we are Christmas weekend doing our own thing and I am really thankful and enjoying the mellow pace and the break from making a potluck dish and dressing up to go somewhere. Our weekend:

Christmas Eve day - A walk at Rancho San Antonio and lunch at Little Saigon at Drew & Hoa's suggestion. Tom almost tried a jackfruit smoothie until he found out it has milk in it (lactose intolerant).

Christmas Eve Evening - Went to church. We were pleasantly surprised by the kids time of Pastor Sid reading the Christmas story from a rocking chair to the kids on the stage. It was Tobey's first time to "go up front" and although I kind of abandoned him on stage (I was sitting in the first row!), he was comforted by sitting in some other mom's lap during the reading. Dinner at a Chinese restaurant (Hunan Homes, where they were surprised to see we have 2 kids already), where else?

Christmas morning - The first time in my life I get to open gifts on Christmas morning! I had dressed Tobey in red Christmas PJ's and it was rather magical to see him wake up Christmas morning in them. We were ready to open but we felt kind of wrong opening presents before Eli had woken up, even knowing he'd get minimal excitement out of the presents, so we waited. We invited Drew & Hoa over for my blueberry stuffed french toast and we had lots of fun revealing how particular both Tom and Drew are about everything including gifts while Tobey and Joshua played nicely together.

Christmas night - Loon Wah for dinner because I don't feel like cooking! Thank goodness for the Chinese restaurants.

It's nice not to have to travel or cook or go to big dinner parties although it is nice to look forward to traveling this week to see my parents in D.C. Our first Christmas as a little family unit -- I rather liked it.