As I write this, in 30 minutes it will be Christmas Day Down Under!  We didn't send cards this year and we didn't post a family video either.  So, this is my last chance to do something... I think I'll write a bit about how we celebrate Christmas here.

Christmas preparations here mingle with end of school year things.  It seems odd to have classroom parties that combine both celebrations.  Dane participated in a junior school (K-5) Christmas concert which they did outside on a beautfiul sunny evening earlier in December (photo above).  He also was in the Christmas play the kids did at the Christmas Eve service tonight (playing Isaiah and a shepherd).

We all went to the "Carols by Candlelight" event held outdoors at our church's other campus a couple of Sunday evenings ago.  Peter played trumpet at that event last year, but he's not getting much sound out of his trumpet these days due to his braces.  Again, another outdoor Christmas event that's a new idea for us.

I didn't put lights up on the house this year.  Being the peak of summer with longer days, it's not dark enough to see outdoor lights until about 8:30pm - though there are some who do some mighty displays.  We do have a tree in the house with lights and decorations on it, but it's not real as those are harder to find here.  We never had an artificial tree until coming here.

We had a very nice Christmas Eve service tonight at our church.  I was asked to prepare the lyrics for "Silent Night, Holy Night" in the various languages spoken by people in our church.  So, we ended up singing the first verse simultaneously in 12 languages: Afrikaans (South Africa), Arabic (Sudan), Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Indonesian, Latvian, Maori (New Zealand natives), Norwegian, and Tok Pisin (Papua New Guinea).  The church kids had fun with the play they performed during the service.

Tomorrow we'll continue our Christmas celebrations.  After opening "prezzies", we might sneak off to the beach for a swim before a late morning Christmas Day service at church.  Then we'll spend the remainder of the day at our pastor's house with several other friends.

Saturday is also a holiday here - Boxing Day.  Boxing Day is a big shopping day, but also known for viewing two major sporting events: 1) Aussie national cricket team kicking off a five-day test match at the MCG stadium in Melbourne in front of 90,000+ fans, and 2) the Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race, which crosses the often dangerous Bass Strait and finishes in Tasmania.  Last year, the shark attack happened on our beach on Boxing Day.

We're seeing the forecast for Christmas in the US midwest with anywhere from 1 to 2 feet of snow coming (that's according to the reports I'm hearing as I listen live right now to Denver's country music radio station on my iPod touch).  Quite the opposite here as we should top out at about 95° on Christmas Day (and sunny, like most every summer day here).  It might top 104° or so on Monday or Tuesday, just in time to welcome Mike & Lori and the girls who will be arriving in Perth.  There's no rain in the forecast for the next month, and may not see much of it until March or April.  It's bushfire season now, and we've had a number of days with hazy skies and the smell of smoke in the air.

Aussie's generally dream of white Christmases even though it's not a real possibility to experience such an event here.  The traditions here are a mix of British, American and some homegrown bits like their uniquely Australian Christmas songs.  Last year I posted "Aussie Jingle Bells".  This year I'll share the lyrics from another Aussie classic: "Christmas in the Scrub" by Leigh Newton.  You can get a sample of the audio for this and hear several other Aussie Christmas songs on this website.

At Christmas time the birds all sing
The rabbits jump, the lizards crawl
At Christmas time the outback rings
All for the birth of God

Chorus
For the birth of God, the wallabies hop
For the birth of God, the cockatoos squawk
For the birth of God, the platypus swims
For the birth of God, the kookaburra laughs
For the birth of God was such exciting news
They'd never heard before
They came from all the land
To see this baby in the straw.

And if you were there you would have heard
The wise old kangaroo
"Oh, I've starved in droughts, I've swum the floods,
"I've hopped around, both up and down,
"Through hills and plains I've never seen
"Such a baby in the straw."

And if you were there you would have heard
The wise little bandicoot.
"Oh, I've snuffled and fossicked the midnight scrub
"I've been in logs and fogs and bogs,
"Well bless my days, I've never heard
"Of a baby in the straw."

And if you were there you would have heard
The wise old noisy crow.
"Oh, I've flown this land, seen many a baby
"Born in burrows, trees and furrows,
"Yet this one outshines them all,
"This baby in the straw."

Indeed, for the birth of God outshines them all.

Merry Christmas from Down Under!