Ready for Christmas!

One of the good things about being gone ALL of November is that when we got home, we were all ready for Christmas activities.  The first night we were home, the kids (still suffering from some jet lag) were up at 0330 asking Jeremy when he was going to put the lights on the house.  Needless to say, they were up the very next day to avoid a repeat of the midnight questioning.  The Christmas tree went up preemptively the day after that.

Abby, Amelia, Addy and Josefina in their Christmas pj's.

One of the things we look forward to before Christmas is Bobbie Jo's vespers service.  She usually has another church member, Barney, do a beautiful chalk drawing while she and others read short Christmas stories.  This year, Barney wasn't quite feeling up to drawing, so instead, she brought some pictures he's done for her in the past and put them on display.

The pictures are just amazing.  The fact that he can take chalk and draw such beautiful pictures is astounding to me.  The chalk he uses glows under a black light, which makes them all the more special.  We were fortunate to receive our own drawing from Barney this year.  It will be a treasured keepsake for our family and a wonderful reminder of the time we spent in Yuma.

Lincoln Military Housing had their Christmas party the same evening as the vespers, so when we left there, we stopped by on our way home.  Most people had already left, but that just meant the lines were shorter!  We were able to sled down a tiny "hill" made of straw bales, play amusement park type games to win stuffed animals and do things like take our picture with Santa!

A few nights later was Jeremy's work Christmas party at the Quartermaster Depot in Yuma.  Kneaders brought some yummy sandwiches and cookies and then we were free to wander the depot and see what else we wanted to do.  What we wanted to do ended up being sledding!  The squadron purchased a bunch of tickets for sledding, so the kids each went down the hill three times.  At $5 for a short ride, I'm not sure it was worth the money for the time spent sledding, but the fun factor was WAY up!

Flip Flops + Snow + Above Freezing Temperatures= A Muddy Mess.

Poor little Sage slipped in the mud, completely soiling the back of her pretty
black peacoat and plastering her beautiful blond curls right to her head!

Sisters racing, but neither can recall who won.  ;)

This hill of snow was built on a real hill, so it was very long.  Much better than the man made hill!

We ended our evening with a ride around the depot on a little train... ok, it was really a tractor but it looked like a train!  Then we headed home for popcorn and hot chocolate to warm up.