Candy Cane Lane

Back when the older kids were little there were several special places we would take them to look at Christmas light displays. One was St. Albans street in Pasadena. Giant fir trees line the street and each one is decorated. And then there were two Candy Cane Lanes, where neighbors go all out decorating their houses. One was in Sierra Madre and the other in Claremont. In Colorado there are no such neighborhoods. It would be quite dangerous I think with the slippery icy sidewalks. There are several commercial light displays, at the zoo, the botanic gardens, etc. and we have enjoyed those.

So I was excited to learn that there was a Candy Cane Lane in the Coachella Valley where we are for New Year's.  It is just one street, perfect for a five and six year old to walk. On Sunday night we headed over there and were not disappointed. You can walk or drive through. The girls and I wanted to walk. Scrooge wanted to drive. We won.

 There were lots of nativity scenes.

 Who are these two little cuties??

Only in the desert, Spiderman climbing a palm tree!

I thought this was a snowman, but now that I look at the picture I think it's a squirrel!

The scene below was in a garage with customized plexiglass in the front for you to look through.

This reindeer had a red nose with a burnt out bulb and Christmas "balls" strategically placed.

These wisemen will get to Bethlehem way before Epiphany on their quads.

It's too bad this whole event doesn't start until everyone leaves on Thanksgiving. It would have been fun to take all the grandkids!

Christmas 2015

Becky and Arek came over before dinner on Christmas Eve and we exchanged gifts. Oliver messed his clothes so he attended with just a diaper on, but oh so sweet.

Christmas morning is so fun with little kids! Santa left Anna a new scooter. She was so excited that it didn't have "training wheels". Her old scooter had two wheels in the back.

Mia has been asking for a skateboard for three years now. I hope this wasn't a BIG mistake. We are making our little daredevil wear knee pads, elbow pads and a helmet when she uses it.

We did not spend much on them at all this Christmas and they were just as happy! The Furbies are driving us cRaZy!!  They have no off button!

Beth's mom-in-law, Roberta, sent them gifts.

Dan's secretary also gave them some little Anna and Elsa dolls. 

I had to get them a Cootie game after seeing it at the Toys From the 60's exhibit at the museum. I have wonderful memories of this game.  Mia thinks it's boring but Anna really likes it. We also got them the game, Sorry.

For about an hour we had a little bit of a White Christmas, which was unexpected.

We also had a smaller group than expected. Stel and Bill both had the flu so we were down five people. Becky and family and Greg, Deirdre and their kids were still able to make it. The new horse racing game that Beth sent Dan was a big hit.

Anna stayed in her jammies the whole day as she woke up with a cold. So glad it wasn't the flu!

It was a Merry Christmas!

Dan's 56th

Last Sunday we celebrated Dan's 56th birthday! His actual birthday is on the 28th, but we will be in La Quinta. He will get to golf on his real birthday with a buddy from work who has a house out there also.

It may not look pretty, but this cake was gluten, soy, dairy, and egg free as the doctor has ordered for Mia. And it actually tasted pretty good.

There are always helpers around here on birthdays! 

Really, I get to eat cake? Really?

Happy Birthday to a great guy!

Sledding

We have had a lot of snow this year so far. I think we have had more than all of last year. So when God gives you snow...go sledding!

There is a small hill at the park near us. They are probably going to want a bigger hill soon. But it works for now!

We had lunch when we got back and Mia read the newspaper, seriously.

Busy Thursday

We had a busy day last Thursday. First we did school in the morning. Then I spent about an hour preparing treats for the girls to take to an Elf party and dinner to eat in the car. Mia is on a gluten, dairy, soy, and egg free diet right now so we could not eat most of the food at the party. But we are very pleased with our new pediatrician and we think we are finally seeing some results!

I only took one picture, which was bad, shocker, so I dragged these off the blog of the woman who threw the party. If you read my blog, Liese, thanks!

The timing was perfect. As soon as the movie was finished we headed out to help with Operation Santa Claus.  It was frigid outside, never getting out of the teens all day.

We wrapped our gifts.

Then we swing the car by the back of the grocery store where they load it up with six boxes of food. We then had the privilege of dropping the gifts and groceries off in person at the home of a needy family!

Holiday Stuff

I have not been taking a ton of pictures lately but I do have a few from events I want to remember.

Some days I get a little extra time to get things done as Mia reads to Anna when they wake up.

At Friday school this year Mia has a music class. Last Friday they gave a holiday performance.

Mia had been nervous for weeks leading up to this. It's a little strange. Mia will walk up to a group of strangers at the park and just start talking to them but she gets nervous about performing. Anna, on the other hand, does not talk to any strangers but loved getting up for her Thanksgiving performance and was the loudest one in the group. 

Later Mia said she wasn't nervous once she realized, "It wouldn't have been very good without her singing." Confidence is a good thing.

Last Sunday we went to the Face to Face Christmas party. Guess who was there with his new haircut?

This group of Star Wars characters is so generous to come to every event.

Poor Anna talked and talked about her friend from the picnic in August and then when she saw her she wouldn't say a thing to her.  I remember being exactly like that! Her little friend has a bilateral cleft and is from the same province in China as Anna is.

Here is another cutie with a bilateral cleft.

I think I recognize him!

Please take a picture of me in front of the game I cheated at won!

The whole group! Oil was eating and you can barely see Maks behind another kiddo.