December 2023

In early December I attended the nativity festival we have here in Colorado Springs. It's beautifully done, but very different from the nativity festivals I'm used to in Bellevue and Arlington. 

Allison and Oscar attended the "Daddy Daughter Holiday Ball."

On December 5th I flew up to visit Malia and sing for the Arlington Nativity Festival. Malia got me from the airport through public transit then took me around on her new FUV (fun utility vehicle). During my first days with her we ate yummy Romeo and Juliets, Georgian cheese boats, and unique Vietnamese food, and Indian food.

After renting a car I drove up and stayed with Roberta in Mukilteo. I drove up to Arlington to rehearse that afternoon. At the end of my rehearsal something like 40+ missionaries walked in while I sang. They gave me wild applause, and I noticed my brain and body automatically switch from rehearsal mode to performance mode in a good way.

That day I bought a mug for a mug exchange at a Christmas party I'd been invited to the next day. After my rehearsal I met Cindy and Sarah for a yummy dinner at Red Robin.

The next day I visited my friends Chauntelle and Lynn, met up with Cindy and Sarah at the Woodinville Cafe for lunch, then hung out with Nick and Liz. 

After seeing the Maliwaki family I went to see the Evergreen Church Lights. They've really added to it since I was last here. I then went to the Crenshaw's holiday party where I had a ton of fun, got a VERY Santa/Christmasey mug, and got to see a lot of other friends who had no idea I was in town.

The first days of my trip were much nicer back home, up into the 60's while I was in 40's and rain (though I have to say I'd missed humidity. I like it as long as it's not below 40 degrees or above 80 degrees). Then the temperature plummeted below freezing and it snowed. Oscar took the kids over for cookies with Santa.

And Tyler participated in his 1st swim meet.

On Saturday morning I drove up to Arlington for a rehearsal with the choir, drove back to Mukilteo to  attend the Harbour Point ward Christmas party, then drove back to Arlington in the afternoon to perform at the nativity festival. Click here to view the recordings. The good news is it was absolutely packed. I'd never seen it anything close to this busy. The bad news is I was on the stage away from the piano and had a hard time hearing it with all the background noise. If I ever sing for them again, I'll ask to use the chapel. 

The next day I attended church then sang and played for Roberta while her granddaughter danced and swayed along. She's very cute!

That evening Cindy and Sarah met up with me at the Tulalip Casino to see the Christmas lights. They just started doing this in December 2022, so it was completely new to me. 

I'd only been to the casino once before 10+ years ago, so I'd never had a chance to really appreciate the architecture here. Even without the lights, it's really beautiful. 

I then went back up to Arlington to sing "O Holy Night" and perform with the choir. I'd done this on both Saturday and Sunday, but I sounded better Sunday since I hadn't also done my full hour+ program. My solo is just past the 41 minute mark.

After the concert I drove back down to Seattle and finally got to see my nibbling Alex who was home for winter break. 

The next morning we got donuts and a make your own cinnamon roll. My cinnamon roll with peanut butter buttercream, cookie dough, and peanut butter cups was the bomb!

We got out in the FUV to explore Volunteer park and see the Black Sun sculpture before she dropped me back off at the airport to catch my flight home.

When I got back the kids had just one week of school before their big winter break. Here are some of Allison's art and writing projects.

Tyler's art and writing projects.

Sometimes the kids cuddle together and are super cute. This was on their December snow day. It was two days before winter break. They had a day off, then had one more day of school, then were out for nearly 3 weeks.

Fortunately the weather improved quickly and I was able to take them to the YMCA to meet Santa. I wanted them to meet Santa again since they weren't dressed in Christmas clothes when Oscar took them to cookies with Santa while I was in Washington. At the YMCA they enjoyed meeting Santa, eating popcorn, drinking hot chocolate, and making crafts. I went to a fun ornament exchange later that evening and got a new Harry Potter ornament. I also made AMAZING eggnog cookies! 

The next day we saw some Christmas lights at a church in the Springs. The kids enjoyed Oscar chasing them around in the light maze pretending to be a monster.

During the break we played lots of board and card games, the kids built lots of Lego Mario, and they had fun with friends on the trampoline on days with nice enough weather.

We drove up to see Luminova at Elitch Gardens on the warmest day in December. It was around 60 when we arrived. The lights were beautiful, and there were a decent amount of rides available. I expected it to be super busy with how warm it was that evening, but the lines really weren't too bad.

So many gorgeous animals!

Tyler and Allison did some rides while I wandered around taking it all in at my own leisure. I met up with them later and we rode the Boomerang coaster as a family. Oscar made the kids laugh at the top saying "it's a good thing we're getting off here and not going backwards," then screaming when we did go backwards. The only other time I did Boomerang before it banged me around a ton, but this time it didn't. I really enjoyed it. It must be determined by where you're sitting.

The kids and I did the Turn of the Century swings with a giant light Rudolph in the background.

We then went in to warm up and have a bite to eat. We were able to get one last meal with our meal plan before our passes expired.

I rode Troika with the kids and they spent a lot of time on these color changing swings (where Oscar huddled up and took a nap).

The kids had a lot of fun and lasted much longer than I would have expected.

We went inside the beautiful tree before driving home. Whenever we next do Christmas lights in Denver, I think I'm going to get a hotel since the drive is tough to do twice in one day when you don't get there until after 6:00pm and leave after 9:00pm. 

That Saturday we continued our Christmas Eve tradition of bowling. They let us use the old arcade cards we'd been gifted from our previous visit even though the management has changed since then. We went on Saturday since December 24th was Sunday, but we think for future years we'll make this a winter break tradition and just go during the week. It costs a ton more on weekends and holidays, but they have good weekday deals. 

After playing at the arcade the kids enjoyed bowling, mocktails, and chicken nuggets with tater tots. We'd eaten at an Indian restaurant before, but the kids barely ate anything there and were pretty hungry.

We saw some Christmas lights on the way home, then put the kids to bed. Santa came!

We actually took breaks every so often so the kids could play with their presents. Oscar, Tyler, and I had fun playing the Harry Potter deck building game we got from Auntie Malia. Those breaks made Christmas last all day, which was super fun.

These were some happy, spoiled kids.

Sweet Nibbler! He decided one of my wrapped gifts from Amy was a great pillow.

Oscar made Pizza for New Years Eve and Tyler played Christmas preludes in church. We let the kids stay up until New York New Years, blew some party favors, then put them to bed.

We had some friends come over for a game day on New Years Day. We'd gotten several games for Christmas that need multiple people, like "Telestrations" and "What Do You Meme?"

Nolan was able to stay a bit longer for some more board and video games. While he was there Tyler finally made his volcano explode (which I'd bought for him over a year ago). 

Oscar gave me the coolest Christmas present ever! He put many, many hours into making me this Settlers of Catan board that can be played on the wall. WOW! I'm still blown away by it. I won the first game we played on the wall, though admittedly it's more difficult than just playing with the classic board. At least it makes a great decoration. We taught Tyler how to play the game, and he's a big fan. I see lots of Catan in our future!