A Little Holiday Cheer

In year's past, we have always done several outings to get it into the holiday spirit.  This year life has taken over and we've been crazy busy keeping up with the day to day rituals and activities.  Now that we are officially on winter vacation from school, we decided we needed to get in at least one fun thing--minus watching movies or listening to carols--to remind of us the beauty of this holiday.  So yesterday morning I did a Google search for holiday events.  To my surprise there were not many left that we haven't already done every year since the kids were little.  I really like to do at least one unique holiday experience each year.  I'm big on tradition, but I also enjoy experiencing new things to remind me that each day is a new adventure. Finally, after searching for about 20 minutes, I found one.  

The Trail of Lights in Denver. 

As luck would have it, just as the five of us piled into the Jeep (we invited Pam to join us for this adventure),  it started snowing.  We sang carols all the way to Castle Rock, where we use a gift card burning a hole in my wallet and ate Chick-Fil-A for dinner.  During dinner, we witnessed a man receive a job.  While he understood English, he only spoke Spanish.  He used an interpreter to answer the questions, and ended up getting hired right on the spot.  I am sure that was a wonderful Christmas gift for him and his family.  To find employment in crazy economic times.

The closer we got to our adventure the harder the snow started coming down.   What a beautiful night to walk around looking at Christmas lights.

Let's get this party started...and Mister in the background looking directly at our camera.  Would you mind stepping to the right just a little bit?  Don't mind the green hue to this pics.  It's just a little alien action.

Even though Nana looks like she's had a few too many Hot Toddy's, it was really just the lights shining in her eyes and the freezing feeling in her toes and fingers causing her to look like this!

 Waiting in the cold and snow to take a ride on the horse drawn carriage seemed like a good idea until we found out there was only one carriage and the line was deep enough that it would be 2-3 more go a round's before we'd get to ride.  Needless to say, we passed. Fortunately, each of us has experienced a carriage ride in the past, and we knew we wouldn't regret not partaking in this part of our adventure!

This tree was a sight to be seen.  We were amazed by all of the lights and the how each branch was meticulously lit up.  I can't imagine being the crew member on the ladder or cherry picker wrapping the lights around the branches.

It was a bit chilly, but skipping along the trails and stopping off at the warming hut to thaw our tingling fingers and toes made the evening merry!

 

The holospex glasses that we "invested" in made our lights look like giant snowflakes.  Craig insisted we all bob our heads back and forth while using the glasses to make it look like the snowflakes were dancing.  Quite a site to be seen!

No, she didn't grow a foot and a half over night.  She simply wanted me to feel like a shrimp as she stood on a rock!

I just love these guys!  They make me smile no matter what  we do together.

After seeing their barn all lit up for the holidays, with a wreath so pretty, I decided I was going to look into getting electricity added to our barn for future Christmas'!

 After walking the entire ranch and visiting the Hildebrand house twice, we decided we'd  had enough chilly weather and needed to warm up with some hot cocoa. For those wondering, we had to visit the house twice because Nana decided to stay at the firepit and warm up her fingers and toes, while the rest of us continued on looking at lights. We knew she wouldn't want to miss out on this part of the experience, so Emaleigh and I took her back to have a peek! 

We hopped back in the Jeep and wow, was the snow really coming down now!  

What a wonderful winter wonderland!

 

 

Again, as luck would have it, we drove right by our favorite donut shop.  Every time we drive up to the mountains to go skiing, we stop by the only Krispy Kreme in Colorado to grab breakfast.  Well tonight, we decided to stop and have dessert!  And a Sunday morning treat before heading to church!

Hot cocoa and a festive donut, made for a yummy dessert!

 And to all a Good Night!