T stands for Holiday Festivities

Helllooooo my lovely, little blog elffies, hope the holiday cheer has descended upon all of you and all is merry and bright.  Christmas is RIGHT around the corner, whether your ready or not!! I think I have most of it under control...........but then....ya just never know for sure.

T-Day (with the T-gang)

For all my T-day followers I'll start with a lovely early dinner with Mr. Santa ( or Papa Bobby as the grandkids say).  We had been out scouting appliances........still planning the house build...... and thought Basque food sounded really good.  I think is was because the temperature dropped and they have the loveliest cabbage soup..................naaaaa, we were hungry....LOL!

You must be hungry, really hungry, to eat Basque food, because there is A LOT that will be served. Mr. Santa had beer and water, I had wine and water as my drink choices. I had already tasted my soup, with beans and salsa added before I remembered to grab my phone and get some photos.

They serve everything "family" style, not just plates of food placed in front of you.

After the soup course is green salad, tomatoes with a creamy Italian dressing  and pickled tongue.................yummmmm! 

This was our second plate of pickled tongue........I did bring about half of it home ;)

The white sauce is really the same creamy dressing as on the tomatoes.

Entree is served with french fries and green beans.  This was mine.......garlic chicken!! 

I ended up bringing most of it home too.......by now I was full of veggies and tongue....LOL!!

The green beans had a salsa over them.......to die for!!!

There are a number of Basque food restaurants in the Bakersfield area, they all vary a little, but not much.  Most don't have a dressing on the tongue.....just regular pickled with vinegar and spices.  The type of vegetables vary, but ALL serve soup, beans, salsa,tongue, french fires and vegetables before the entree.  Entrees vary just slightly from place to place.  It is the BEST food, but there is so much of it I usually shy away...............then BOOM! I gotta have it!

Some Art Time

A church, not far from here, had a "Paint Nite" at their church.  Something a little different from the others I have attended in the past.  This was a much smaller gathering and we painted an 11x14" canvas.  The ladies, from the church, had all kinds of goodies for us to snack on with coffee and tea.  I really enjoyed this group of ladies, they were all so funny, and the instructor actually instructed!! Of course I went off and did my own thang!

My little group.

Last Night

We gathered with family and friends (with us it is almost the same thing) any-o-ways......we went to the Walk Through Bethlehem.  It is an event this church puts on every year.  They have it all set up outside and you get to walk through a simulation of Jerusalem.....you even have to pay taxes to enter  ( well, it was really a large washer they gave us) 

I kept the brochure, I didn't take my glasses so I couldn't read it.....LOL! 

We were first asked to be seated in the sanctuary until our town was called.  Each group of about 20 were given a town name and we had to use it at different points of the tour.

The sanctuary was beautifully decorated and they had a pianist playing Christmas songs. 

I was in love with this wreath!!

I would have loved to sing carols with this organ playing the music.  I bet it sounds amazing in that large of a sanctuary!

Our three younger ones are not shy, when asked if anybody want to stand up front and help sing carols!

The Tour Begins

There are a lot of photos, and I am not going to give a description of each one.

Enjoy!! 

Our young guide also told the story of Jesus Christ's life, but interacted with people in each place we stopped, asking if they had heard any news of a baby being born.  He also explained what each booth  was about and what they did.  It went through the whole life of Christ, the end was Christ risen ( this man was excellent)  Such a great way for the younger children to experience this.

The evening had really gotten cold ( for So  CAL.) we all decided we should get some dinner, so we headed over to La Costa for some Mexican food. Hannah and her dad stayed home, they felt that Hannah should not be in the cold night air.......which I agreed with.  She went back to school today, but still gets worn out easily, but much better than last week. Thank you ALL for all the well wishes for her!!!

Merry Christmas