Merry Christmas from the McVey's down in Wellington, New Zealand!
We thought you might like seeing what takes place down here during Christmas so here we go....
We spent a little time decorating our flat. There was a used tree in the closet so we purchased a few decorations and here Ann is doing her best...this is a far cry from our home in Denver, but took about 2 hours in total vs. the two or three days in Denver.
Of course I've got to add my 2-cents worth.
We even put up a few decorations in the "Digi-Lab" so we could feel the spirit of the season.
Downtown had its decorations just like you'd see in the states. Of course we're in the middle of the summer so there is no winter slant to the presentations!
We had to travel all the way to Invercargill on the south island to see this sort of display!
Kirkcaldie & Stains is the premier department store downtown Wellington and they really got into the spirit of decorations!
They had a separate Christmas decoration department just like you'd find in a Christmas specialty store back home.
It was super busy when we visited the store. We would not have known about this had it not been for "Princess Jasmine" who gave us the heads up.
We heard that the mall in Porirua was super decorated so we made a trip and although the mall was small by U.S. standards, it did not disappoint for decorations!
We decided to see where we could find various styles of Christmas trees. This was at the train station.
This was out in front of the main "Vodafone" building on Lambton Quay (pronounced key). It was sponsored by Wellington City Council.
Oh, almost forgot this tree inside Kirkcaldie & Stains.
This was the tree put up by the city. It would get all lite up late in the evening and the objects at the bottom of the tree are giant beanbags for people to lay on and look through the lights. We didn't make it down at night because it doesn't get dark until about 10pm.
This was an attempt at a local craft show.
At the same craft show this group was singing Christmas Carols. You can tell that the guy in front, reading the paper, is really into it.
You've got the Salvation Army set up collecting contributions downtown.
They also set up inside a popular Grocery store over in Kilbirnie called "Countdown".
We had a Christmas Dinner in our flat and the families that came brought their children. You can tell here that the excitement is no different here or in the U.S.
This Santa was all set up in the Porirua mall.
Who is that cutie in the bright red sweater?
We had the Elders, Mario and Guy over for a Christmas dinner. Mario is always clowning around! He's on a mission now to Brisbane, Australia.
We shared gifts and poppers!..Poppers or crackers are a popular decoration here that when you pull the ends, it makes a loud craking or popping sound.
The Elders asked for a special dinner...breakfast! We served up pancakes, german pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, muffins, and all the drinks to go with.
Since we were traveling to the south island Christmas day, we had our gift opening Christmas Eve. Oh Boy! Beef Jerky!
Ann was super excited about the 300+ count white sheets that she scored for Christmas!
We missed all of you this year and will do likewise next year, but we made due and had a good time. We look forward to what the next year brings and wish all of you a Happy New Year!
We thought you might like seeing what takes place down here during Christmas so here we go....
We spent a little time decorating our flat. There was a used tree in the closet so we purchased a few decorations and here Ann is doing her best...this is a far cry from our home in Denver, but took about 2 hours in total vs. the two or three days in Denver.
Of course I've got to add my 2-cents worth.
We even put up a few decorations in the "Digi-Lab" so we could feel the spirit of the season.
Downtown had its decorations just like you'd see in the states. Of course we're in the middle of the summer so there is no winter slant to the presentations!
We had to travel all the way to Invercargill on the south island to see this sort of display!
Kirkcaldie & Stains is the premier department store downtown Wellington and they really got into the spirit of decorations!
They had a separate Christmas decoration department just like you'd find in a Christmas specialty store back home.
It was super busy when we visited the store. We would not have known about this had it not been for "Princess Jasmine" who gave us the heads up.
We heard that the mall in Porirua was super decorated so we made a trip and although the mall was small by U.S. standards, it did not disappoint for decorations!
We decided to see where we could find various styles of Christmas trees. This was at the train station.
This was out in front of the main "Vodafone" building on Lambton Quay (pronounced key). It was sponsored by Wellington City Council.
Oh, almost forgot this tree inside Kirkcaldie & Stains.
This was the tree put up by the city. It would get all lite up late in the evening and the objects at the bottom of the tree are giant beanbags for people to lay on and look through the lights. We didn't make it down at night because it doesn't get dark until about 10pm.
This was an attempt at a local craft show.
At the same craft show this group was singing Christmas Carols. You can tell that the guy in front, reading the paper, is really into it.
You've got the Salvation Army set up collecting contributions downtown.
They also set up inside a popular Grocery store over in Kilbirnie called "Countdown".
We had a Christmas Dinner in our flat and the families that came brought their children. You can tell here that the excitement is no different here or in the U.S.
This Santa was all set up in the Porirua mall.
Who is that cutie in the bright red sweater?
We had the Elders, Mario and Guy over for a Christmas dinner. Mario is always clowning around! He's on a mission now to Brisbane, Australia.
We shared gifts and poppers!..Poppers or crackers are a popular decoration here that when you pull the ends, it makes a loud craking or popping sound.
The Elders asked for a special dinner...breakfast! We served up pancakes, german pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, muffins, and all the drinks to go with.
Since we were traveling to the south island Christmas day, we had our gift opening Christmas Eve. Oh Boy! Beef Jerky!
Ann was super excited about the 300+ count white sheets that she scored for Christmas!
We missed all of you this year and will do likewise next year, but we made due and had a good time. We look forward to what the next year brings and wish all of you a Happy New Year!
