Nine Ladies Dancing: Party Time!

I'm so glad I have this opportunity to blog [a bit late from the original schedule] about my family's annual Christmas Party! This year was the 29th annual party - it started the year I was born and hasn't missed a year since.

We have many traditions that have to take place over the course of the evening and people look forward to the event all year. Personally, I love that it's a chance to sing carols and do other activities that only happen with groups of creative people.

First of all, here's a photo of my parent's Charlie Brown-esque Christmas tree. This is actually more tree-like than in recent years. I think it was last year that the tree was actually a massive branch hanging from the ceiling. The cool part is that the tree is harvested from their land in Mariposa, in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

The party is a potluck and this year's mix was very tasty. I brought the Christmas Candy that I mentioned last week. Doesn't it look good?

One of the highlights of the party is singing Christmas carols accompanied by Michael on piano. Where else do you get a chance to sing the good ol' carols? I sing along with the radio but I was surprised that our church didn't really since the carols during the advent services. Mom and I tried singing alto on a few songs, which was a fun challenge!

After the carols comes the Mummer's Play. This is a classic play, which people used to perform door to door in old England, about Saint George fighting the dragon. My mom and dad put together a shortened version of the play and (get this!) the lines were written out using carbon copy paper back in the day. We've had the same script forever so I pretty much have the whole thing memorized. People get pulled up to act the parts and read the script after a few minutes of prep time. It's good fun! My dad was an emaciated Santa Claus and the presenter. 

Here's a taste of the comedy of the play with Ahna-Kristen as St. George and Ruth as the dragon!

Next comes the "12 Days of Christmas" chorus. People take different parts and we all sing and act our parts as the numbers come along. The cards for the song are the same ones my sister and I made when we were in middle school. (The picture at top is an example!)

Ruth snickers at getting the "five golden rings" part for the n-th year in a row!

We end with a special dance outside - a circle dance called the "Shepherd's Dance" where we travel around in a circle, mimicking the path of the shepherds on their way, following the star, to see the baby Jesus. It's special to dance under the stars and feel the light within.


That's the Thomas Christmas party! You are all welcome to come anytime you find yourself near Santa Cruz around Christmas! Merry Christmas.

Neal Helman plays his dulcimer for us. So beautiful!

Boyd and Neal sing the carols!