Weekend of Christmas

We really packed a lot of Christmas into two days this weekend.  And it's a good thing, seeing as how in three weeks it will all be over!

Our first event Saturday was putting up the tree.

The tongue helps.

Alan spent most of his time 'driving' this part.

Dale still assembling.

Alan still driving.

Once assembled, Alan thought the tree should be hugged.  Repeatedly.

Dale was great help with the lights!

Alan helped with the lights some, too.

And then he took our picture!

After adding our colored lights, we discovered our white strands were in pretty bad shape, so finishing the tree would have to wait.

We had ourselves a little nap and an early supper and then split into groups.  That's right, my friends, we had so much Christmas fun to get in we had to divide and conquer!

Well... sort of.

Mom and I took Dale to see his first play!  Before the play, however, we walked a few blocks to the beautiful, decked out, city park to hear a college choir give an outdoor performance of Christmas favorites - complete with adorable choreography!  I'm not sure who had more fun, those performing or those watching.  

A quick, brisk walk back to the theater... 

(guess who we saw on the way!?)

...and then we settled in for The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever.  Yes, those infamous Herdmans!  Dale literally sat on the edge of his seat for the entire production, and only partially because the seat would have folded up with him otherwise.  He got all the jokes, behaved like a perfect gentleman, and can still recite his favorites lines today.

We completed our evening out with a look through the local drive-through lights display.  We always try to go through at least once a year, usually more.  Nativities, Santas, a carousel, a butterfly-speckled waterfall, snowmen, a dragon... and so much more... all out of lights.  Pretty fun!

Meanwhile.... back at the ranch... we left Alan with Gramps, and the two of them went to see our little town's annual parade.  Alan came home with a goody bag of candy, talk of seeing trumpets and drums, and the simple satisfaction of going somewhere with Gramps!

Whew!  All that in one day!

Unfortunately, the boys and I stayed home from church Sunday because of colds, or we would have gotten to see the sanctuary all decorated, hear a Christmas sermon, and sing a few Christmas songs.  Hopefully we'll be well next week!

But we did spend the afternoon finishing up our tree.  Complete with the surprise of Dale doing a great job evenly distributing the icicles ornaments to finish up, and the classic 4-ornaments-all-on-one-branch (courtesy of Alan).  

As fun as all this has been, I can't wait to see what sort of Christmas-y things the rest of the week has in store!