Christmas...

The Christmas season has come and gone - it was a strange one, completely lacking in all the things that the season has come to represent to us.  No snow (didn't really mind that one, although I do enjoy looking at it,) not being with family to enjoy all those little things that make the season so delightful, like baking, watching the old Christmas classics, and just feeling the warmth and comfort of being together.

Wayland, working in retail this year, has been extremely busy, and for, I think the first time in his life, was a bit of a Grinch.  December is rodeo time - big time down here, and since he caters to that crowd, he was running ragged...

One night, after he got home from work, he said "let's go for a ride."  He wouldn't tell me where we were going, which would have been helpful, because he eventually got lost.  He gets really nervous really fast when he doesn't know where he is, so we ended up having to go back home to pull up the map on the computer... (Which makes me a little crazy.)

We found our directions and headed out again - to the Las Vegas Speedway to see the Christmas light display. 
We sat in line for almost an hour, but Brad called us just as we lined up, so he kept us entertained the whole time. :-)  It was a bit costly for a drive around the track, but it was fun, and the first festive thing we had done all month.

It's hard to take pictures of lights, at night, in a moving car, so this is as good as it gets...

We decided at the last minute to run home to spend the holiday with the kids - Wayland managed to arrange just a couple of days off in a row, so on Christmas Eve, we headed home to Utah.  Luckily, the weather was good, and the roads were clear.

We arrived around 7, and the kids were already assembled at Jeff's house for the Christmas Eve party, so we went directly there.  They fed us a yummy turkey dinner, then we got to watch them exchange gifts...

Meanwhile, at home, the girls had decorated our house so cute - we just went from room to room pointing things out and oohing and ahhing.  So much fun to see what someone else can do with the old decorations in our space. :-)

Christmas morning at our house;

Puppy loves Christmas - he always wants to know where his treats are...

It tickled me to see that Melissa had used the yarn people on the little trees in the corner.  Those things are ancient - I made them eons ago, when she and Jeff were small, so that they could play with the decorations on the tree and I wouldn't have to worry about them breaking them, or them getting hurt.   I packed them away when they got bigger, and we never used them again.

One day, my sister emailed me and asked if I had any surplus decorations that I could send to her new daughter-in-law to use in her pre-school.  I immediately thought of those, since they are "child safe" and packed them up to send her.  When Melissa saw what I was doing she got very upset - she made me pull out one of each kind for her to keep in her cedar chest.

Not too long after that, my nephew got divorced - and my kids wanted the ornaments back... so I won them back in the settlement.  Ha ha...

I made the things myself, and they are nothing special or glamorous in any way, but my children sure are attached to them.  They were the first thing my son commented on when he came into the house.

Go figure.

Anyway, Christmas came and went way too fast, and we headed back home. 
The following Tuesday, Wayland's Sister and brother-in-law drove down to visit.  Wayland has been in the middle of inventory all week, so it has been up to me to entertain them and see that they had a good time.  It's rather daunting, since I haven't been anywhere myself - don't know what's out there, or how to get there, but we did manage to see a few things...

We took a drive through Red Rock Canyon.  I have only been through there once, and it was during the government shut-down, so I didn't get out of the car at all.  It was kind of fun to see it again under less restrictive terms.  Couldn't believe the traffic everywhere though...

As we drove through the park, we saw the signs everywhere warning visitors not to feed the wild donkeys.  Everyone I have talked to, said that they have never seen any wild donkeys on that road - so we started joking that they didn't really exist.  But as we pulled out on the road to leave the park - Mark spotted some on the side of the road...

We pulled in to a gas station across the street to get photos.  My camera was dead, so all I had was my phone, and I couldn't figure out how to zoom it - so I ran across the road to get a closer look - and nearly got killed on the way.  (Can't believe the traffic down here around New Year's - it's nuts!)

Our company stayed here till Saturday.  It's always so sad when people leave and the quiet takes over again.

I hope this new year will be kinder than the last one was.

Happy New Year!
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