We’re spending the holidays in Phoenix, Arizona, someplace we’ve never been before. It’s where Henry and Gloria (our daughter-in-law Beckee’s parents) stay for the colder half of the year. We’re all celebrating together, which I hope is the start of a new tradition.
Monday we all went to the Desert Botanical Garden. I’ll do a longer post on it later. It was fun.
Last night was Christmas Eve, which is also the third night of Hanukkah. We had potato pancakes and lit the Menorah over at Henry and Gloria’s place.
Today everyone is coming over to the house we rented. We’ll have Christmas stockings, which is a tradition from Judy’s side of the family. She’s made new stockings for Henry and Gloria, just as she has for other new members of the family.
Anyhow, that’s all for now. Best wishes for a happy holiday to you and yours!
gardeninacity 
Ahhh, how lovely, celebrating with new family. Love the stockings! Best wishes to one and all, enjoy the break.xxx
Happy holidays! I love the Desert Botanical Gardens. Hope you saw a roadrunner, they’re fun to watch.
Happy Holidays to everyone in your extended family, and enjoy your respite from the colder climate in Chicago.
It was actually colder in Phoenix than in Chicago!
Lovely combining all the traditions and celebrating altogether. Happy Holidays to you all!
Great new way to celebrate “ALL” the Holidays and have a vacation as well. Happy New Year to everyone and enjoy the warm weather – it’s about 35 here in Medford, OR today!
Have fun. Wonderful way to create a new tradition. I’ve been only to the airport there!
Happy holiday ….have a wonderful time with extended family …and away from your cold winter. I guess you’ll be seeing a lot of dry gardens in Phoenix .
As long as the family can get together it doesn’t matter what the day is called. I hope it stays warm there!
Happy Holidays to you and your family, Jason and Judy!
Enjoy! Have a wonderful holiday
Same to you, Frank!
Happy Holidays to you and your family; enjoy the vacation. LOVE the prairie dogs!
New family traditions are wonderful! Happy Hanukkah and Happy Holidays. I think the picture of you and Judy is really good. Your family looks so happy in the group shot. What nice stockings too. Good job Judy. I really like this part of the world. I am glad you could enjoy it.
What a wonderful way to spend the holidays! A desert celebration for all. Happy Holidays!
The Desert Botanic Garden is wonderful; hope you enjoyed it.
It was warmer in Chicago the past couple of days than it was in L.A.!
I know, so weird!
Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas — what a wonderful way to celebrate! That botanical garden is one place I’d love to visit, although any place that has those big-armed cacti would be fine by me! I laughed like crazy when I saw the prairie dogs. I had one as a pet for a time, which I don’t advise, but he was a sweetie and helped to develop my fondness for them. A friend in Lubbock sees them all the time; a vacant lot near her doctor’s office was colonized, and now it’s protected, so people can watch them going about their business.
A prairie dog pet? Well, why not, I knew a couple who kept a ferret for a pet.
One of the biggest ‘why nots’ is the prairie dog’s instinct to burrow. You can’t imagine what a burrowing prairie dog can do to a sofa.
I can imagine well enough not to take the risk.
How fun! That’s a great place to be this time of year–or maybe for the entire month of February. Anyway, what a great tradition to establish! Love the family photos and the stories. 🙂
Hello Jason, I have enjoyed your blog and wish you and your family a very happy New year! I once visited the Phoenix Botanical Garden. The Sonoran Desert looked like a different planet from the area I come from, but I thoroughly enjoyed discovering a new kind of beauty. Happy gardening in 2020!
Wow, that is not what I would have expected. Phoenix and Christmas!
Our in-laws live there over the winter, so we were spending the holidays with them.
Oh, I get it. It is just VERY different from where you left.