Twas the Week Before Christmas...

 Hi,

I'm sorry I haven't been writing lately. I'm trying to spend more time with Beth in the evenings, and when Chuck hollers out to wherever I might be, "You wanna watch a Christmas movie?" Of course I'm going to say yes. 

We've been to the movies twice.

Walked around our little town.

Did some Christmas shopping.

Looked at Christmas lights.

And went to our church's Christmas concert. 

It's been a fun week that went by way too fast!

The fountain decorated downtown

Trying to get a picture of us in front of our town's Christmas tree. It was pouring rain and windy, and the phone kept slipping out of my hand!

We used a haze machine this year during the concert.

It was phenomenal as usual. 

The music, the lights, even the drama.

You can watch it  here. 

Even just the first minute. You won't be disappointed!

Oh! And Adelaide turned two! (There are three candles because one is for good luck.) We weren't able to be there for her birthday this year but Diana sent lots of pictures and videos. 

The next few days will be last minute prep for Christmas. I still have some wrapping to do, plus I'm working a half day on Monday. Unfortunately Chuck only has Christmas Day off this year. But I'm thankful he has it off!

Sharaya and Ally will come over Christmas Eve and we'll video chat with Diana, Peter and Adelaide so Ally and Adelaide can open their Christmas Eve jammies. (Ally has been sick the last week or so and has missed a lot of school but Sharaya says she's starting to feel better.) Then Christmas morning we'll all be at our own homes, then Sharaya and Ally will come over in the afternoon and we'll have Christmas with them. Diana and Peter will go to his parents in the afternoon. (D&P live in Pennsylvania and his parents are in New Jersey. We're in Seattle.)

Have you finished prepping for Christmas? Or for Hanukkah or Kwanza if you celebrate those? I pray this has been a peaceful time for you.  

Late

Today I finally finished putting up the Christmas lights outside. We pulled the tree out of the box and got it put up last week and I froofed it a couple days ago. Tonight I got the lights on. We got a Christmas card from my nephew and his family and I told Chuck I haven't even started on ours. Even he was shocked!

I've never been this late preparing for Christmas!

How are you doing? Are you completely decorated?

Trying New Things

All Aboard hosted a private showing of Frozen 2 tonight. Beth needed to transfer buses to get to the theater so last night we drove her to the transit station and explained exactly what would happen. Then I sent her a text with a picture of the buses, "DART will pick you up at home, Para Transit will drop you off at the theater..."

She did great! She sent me a text when she got to the theater and even sent us this picture:

Then she texted when she got home and said she loved the movie! This was the first time she's had to transfer buses and thankfully she waits on one bus until the other bus arrives so she was never left alone but this morning she did say she was nervous. But she did fine!

We drove around last night and looked at Christmas lights. There were so many cute little characters from tv shows and movies... 'Christmas lights' sure have changed a lot from when I was a kid!

I mentioned a few posts ago that we were going to make some changes with my desk at work. I've found trying to run my department while helping to run the front office isn't working. I just don't have time to do both. My boss wants me to remain centrally located (as opposed to putting me down on the first floor) So yesterday we put a wall up by my desk. We'll try this and see how it goes. 

My desk is in the back. This is what it looked like before:

And after we put up a taller wall:

I used to see the receptionists desk and out to the office area where the guests would come in. Plus through the window and down the hall...

But now I'm hidden behind the wall. I won't be answering the phones as much and even though it'll take some getting used to I'm hoping it gives me more time to be out and about helping my crew and getting things done throughout the building. 

And speaking of getting things done, we were setting up for a Senior Adults Christmas Party yesterday and Beth was helping to set out all the chairs when I looked up and saw her sitting with some of the ladies folding napkins. She's normally very shy but she just sat right down and began folding! She loves doing this kind of thing, being creative and working with her hands.

What about you? Are you creative? Do you make things or paint or draw...?

Lights and Chocolate and A Dragon

We all met at the church and had pizza and salad for dinner. The tables were covered with butcher paper so we could draw and color while we waited. Beth drew this perfect little snowman, I couldn't believe how perfect her circles were! This girl is so good at art.

 

The centerpieces were so cute! We have some very creative people at our church. I could go out, buy these items and recreate this centerpiece but I would not have thought of this all on my own. I just don't have that creative gene.

 

(This has nothing to do with this post, except that it's another centerpiece made by another co-worker. I'm so in awe of their talent!)

Okay, where was I? Oh yeah, the Christmas party. After dinner we all climbed into our cars and headed to the Woodland Park Zoo. This time of year they have what they call WildLights. Parts of the zoo are blocked off and completely covered in lights!

We had never done this before and had so much fun! It's been so cold in Seattle this week with temps in the 30s and 40s so we got some hot chocolate to keep us warm!

Beth was a little unsure about seeing the Komodo Dragon until she saw a picture of it and realized it wasn't a fire-breathing kind of dragon. Being behind glass helped too, I'm sure. 

We watched kids - and adults! - have snowball fights with big balls of yarn; we listened to carolers; watched everyone on the carousel, such a fun night out!

 

 Have you done any holiday activities yet this season?

The Older I Get

It's been hard to get into the Christmas spirit this year, although I'm not sure why. I love Christmas! It's my favorite time of year. So I've been wondering why I just haven't been feelin' it.

Then yesterday I took Allison out shopping. Crazy, right?! Taking a 4 year old shopping less than two weeks before Christmas?! But it wasn't as bad as I expected. As we're getting on the escalator, she yells, "Look! A Christmas tree!!" "Look!! Lights!!" She was excited about everything! It was exactly what I needed.

Then today I got a Christmas card from a long time, dear friend. It reads:

The Older I Get...
the simpler my holiday preparations become...
the more I cherish the old ornaments...
the more fondly I remember Christmases past...
the longer I hold onto a holiday hug...
the more I enjoy giving then receiving...
the longer I sit in the glow of the Christmas tree...
the more wondrously beautiful the Christmas story is...
the more I try to see Christmas through the eyes of a child...

This is all SO true! We finally got our tree and I'm hoping to get it trimmed, lights on and all decorated tonight. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

1991