Merry Christmas from Kelowna!

Sharon and I are in Kelowna for Christmas. We flew in Friday and had an unexpected greeting party in my neice Helen, her husband Jae-Sock, and their daughters, Annalynn and Annabelle. Also flying in Friday were Jon, Lauren, Hannah and Hazel. After being delayed by a road closure Mike and Kaja arrived Saturday evening.

We are sharing a house in central Kelowna and have been enjoying our time being hosted by Helen and her family.

The Summerhill Winery is an excellent place for supper and free wine tasting. The Spadefoot Toad Syrah went very well with prime rib and steak. It is one of the most unique wine names we have ever encountered.

A walk from the downtown park by the water led us to Bread & Co. where we enjoyed cheese and broccoli soup with fresh bread.

The winter farmers' market provided the Christmas turkey, Italian sausage, soups, apple juice with market spices, smoked gouda, cards and two bracelets for little girls. Hannah, at 2, found Farmer Bob intimidating rather than entertaining. She is still asking about the Farmer three days later.

The playground in the Mission Creek park provided a morning of running around and swinging for the girls.

I enjoyed a visit to Mosaic Books downtown. It was nice to see a bookstore filled with shoppers. Among its attractions are a section on Canadian fiction and an excellent bargain area where I got the first two books in the Chinese series of Peter May.

I will be going to Indigo after Christmas to use a gift card. I am waiting to see what books I get from Santa.

This afternoon several of us went to Mass at Immaculate Conception.

For Christmas Eve supper we are taking up a Murphy tradition of having Chinese food. We had a good selection from Mekong. They were so busy this evening.

At the top of the post is a photo of me reading Twas the Night Before Christmas to Annalynn, Hannah and Annabelle. Hannah wanted me to read it twice to her.

Merry Christmas to all!