Christmas in Florida

Well, we've made our final moving plans, and we plan to be settling into our new home during the Christmas holidays. We had hoped to be there sooner, but the delays just could not be avoided. So...we will have our first Christmas in Florida this year! It will be so different than what we are used to, but different can be a good thing. No more white Christmases for us! (Unless you count the white sand on the beautiful beaches!) No more fires in the fireplace, no more hot foods and drinks by the hearth (we won't even HAVE a fireplace there!). In the past, we have decorated our trees with a mountain/woodland theme. I guess we will now switch to a tropical/beach theme. I never thought about it until I saw this photo, but Floridians often decorate palm trees with lights during the holidays. Some cover their trees with seashells, starfish, and sand dollars. And some even purchase small palm trees to decorate indoors instead of fir or pine trees. It will be hard to get used to such drastic changes, but we plan to dive into the new culture and partake of the new customs. My teens are looking forward to going to the beach, swimming pools, water parks, and theme parks during the winter--a definite advantage to moving to Florida in the winter. And they will have some time off between Christmas and beginning a new semester in their new schools--a month off in Florida during January might be even better than a hot, humid month of vacation during the summer. We are looking forward to spending our first Christmas in Florida--and all of the upcoming holidays and events, too! :)