Christmas at 'Home'.

We got two Christmases this year, one in the US & one in the UK. As usual, we spent most of our time trying to see everyone that we had missed over the past year & catching up with what has been going on. Work schedules & the limited time we had in the UK meant that we didn't get to see everyone that we would have liked to, but we managed to see most of our close family.

Christmas Day 2007

Christmas day was a busy one this year, although it was quite relaxed & very enjoyable. Our friends Tony & Mary invited us over to spend the day with them & their family, so after Cookie & Spritz (our bunnies) opened their presents (& ate the wrapping paper !) we headed off. The afternoon & evening were mostly spent eating, drinking, eating, drinking, opening presents, eating, drinking, eating, & decorating Mary's brother with bows from presents.

Where's Santa, Yogi?

Jellystone Park (the home of Yogi Bear) is just up the road in Eureka. At Christmas the place is transformed into Santa's Magical Kingdom. This is one of three public festive light displays in the St Louis Area (the others are 'Winter Wonderland' in Tilles Park & 'The Way of Lights' at Our Lady of the Snows Shrine in Belleville, Illinois). The kingdom comprises over 2-million Christmas lights decorating the 35-acre park.

When we arrived the road passing the entrance to the park was cordoned off & we were directed to the end of a very long line of slow moving traffic. It took 45-minutes to make it to the park entrance, but it was worth it. We travelled through a 'tunnel of lights' which seemed to go on forever & the rest of the park was lit up with thousands of lights. There were also a number of festive scenes & illuminated features such as a 350 foot Waterfall of Lights, The Forest of Magic Lights, Santa's Acrobatic Elves, Toy Land, Winter Wonderland, The Blessed Nativity, Angel Flight Training School, Santa's Workshop, The Present Wrapping Factory, Santa's North Pole Castle, The Fountain of Lights, & The Gateway Arch. To supplement the visual presentation the park had it's own radio 'station' that you could tune into in your car. This broadcast a festive story & also gave some background about the display. Next year we'll try one of the other displays.

Christmas at the office

As usual, there were lots of festive activities at work. These included the tenant breakfast provided by the building management, the cubicle decorating competition, the 'pot-luck' lunch (where everyone on our floor was asked to bring in a appetizer, main, or desert dish), & the Christmas party. This was again held at the Noonday which is one of the oldest clubs in the US (established in 1893). The club occupies the top floor (40th) of the tallest building in St Louis (One Metropolitan Square) so there were really great views of The Gateway Arch, Downtown St Louis, & Illinois.

New Christmas lights

There was a new downtown landmark lit up just in time for Christmas. The Pinnacle Entertainment casino, 'Lumiere Place'. This is a luxurious $507 million 'resort' which includes a 75,000-sq ft casino with a dedicated poker room, seven restaurants (including two by celebrity chef Hubert Keller), two hotels (with nearly 500 rooms including Missouri's first Four Seasons Hotel), & luxury shops. Part of the complex includes a 24-storey 'tower' which appeared to have architectural brickwork running up both sides & over the top of the tower. However, when the oversized light switch was turned on at the opening ceremony the brickwork illuminated. Apparently, this is achieved using a cutting edge illuminated glazing system that is attached to the brickwork creating a massive light box, or 'Lumiere'. This is computer controlled with the light intensity adjusted to suit the surrounding ambient conditions. Patterns & messages can also be displayed.

Piano lessons

Beth has been taking weekly piano lessons for a few months now & is getting really, really, good at both playing & reading music. Miss Penny, who is Beth's piano teacher, not only teaches her how to play the piano, but also how to read music & music theory. She also has a cool dog called Shannon that Beth loves!

Snow, snow, snow

The snow just seems to continue in the St Louis area. There was snow for the day of Beth's poms competition & then we got a heavier coverage (7-inches) which meant that I wasn't able to make it into work. MoDot were out & about keeping the major roads & highways clear but due to the timing of the snowfall (before & during the morning rush hour) & the previously wet roads (which iced as the snow landed) travel conditions were really bad. The advice from the highway patrol was to travel only if you really had to, & to delay your travel as much as possible to allow time for the roads to be cleared. Since I only had to work the morning, I chose to stay at home & use some of my vacation time rather than chance travelling in the poor conditions.

Fall Local Competition - Poms

In almost a repeat of the local Fall poms competition last year, there was significant snow on the ground on the day of the event. This meant that it took a bit longer to get to the competition venue, but MoDOT had been out in force making sure that major roads & highways were kept clear. It is during this time of year that owning an all wheel drive vehicle has definite benefits! Beth & her team-mates did really well at the competition, coming in third place. Well done Beth!

A light icing

Another ice storm hit St Louis, signifying the start of the 'hard-core' winter season. We were supposed to be meeting up with our friends Tony & Mary, but this latest round of ice meant that travelling wasn't a good idea. Although the icing was only slight this time, it was enough to make the road conditions treacherous.

Emma's Birthday

Beth's was invited to her friend Emma's birthday party. This was a surprise party at Club Libby Lu which is a shop that is 'an experience-based retailer designed by girls for girls', which basically means that everything is pink, sparkly, & designed such that all items are 'must-haves'. Beth likes this shop & was really happy to be invited to Emma's party. The first thing that the girls did was to make some cosmetics (a face mask) & then they got to choose what style they wanted for their 'Libby Du'. The stylists then did the hair & make-up for each girl (Beth chose 'move over Cinderella' which was a princess hair-style complete with tiara) before the entire group went out into the shopping mall to perform a number of dance routines & songs all celebrating Emma's special day. They then got to choose a few items from the shop before watching Emma open all her birthday presents.

Breakfast with Santa & an Angel

Beth went to our local sports center, Riverchase, to have breakfast with Santa. First of all she got to do a craft (which was a 'Smores' snowman), & then she had some breakfast before meeting the big guy himself & having her photo taken. Immediately after having breakfast with Santa, Beth got to have her second breakfast of the day although this time it was with an angel at our neighbor's church. Beth had her photo taken with the nativity scene, listened to a festive story, & then did a number of crafts!

Xmas lights

There are a few 'formal' Christmas light displays around St Louis & a large number of private houses are heavily decorated during the festive period. We are slowly adding to our collection of lights each year, but we just can't keep up with one of the local homes. This is big house to start with (not many homes here have their own tennis courts, but his one does), & it is absolutely covered with lights. The owners have been adding to the display for the past 14-years & open up their gardens so that the public can see all the lights & festive decorations in aid of charity.

Chesterfield Mall

There are three shopping malls all within about 10 miles from our house but we thought we would try somewhere different for a change, so we went to Chesterfield Mall (which is near St Charles). This is a reasonably large complex with a shopping mall & a number of strip malls & 'warehouse' sized shops surrounding the center. The mall is approximately 1,300,000 sq. ft in size & contains similar shops as in our local malls, such as Macy's, Dillard's, Sears, Borders & an AMC Megaplex Movie Theater. However, one thing that our malls don't have is a two-storey carousel (which Beth took a ride on).