The Happiest Place on Earth

Well.... usually.

I LOVE Disneyland at Christmas time. It is creative, artistic, festive.

If I could have a dream job, I would be a decorator at Disneyland at Christmas. Three days after Christmas, we knew Disneyland would be crowded. Crowded?

It was INSANE!!

It was sold out! It was over sold!

If we had not purchased our tickets online, we would not have gotten in.

This was not a crowd gathered for a show.

This was the crowd that was everywhere.

Getting the stroller around was virtually impossible. We ended up parking it and started walking... or shuffling, or pushing...

We did manage to make it on 4 rides and walk through Mickey's house.

Braeden and Miles were both troopers.

Miles reluctantly crashed so it was just Sean and Braeden left to help Buzz Lightyear defeat the Evil Emperor Zurg. And I took Braeden on the Mad Hatters Tea Cups.

I love the teacups at night.

One of many childhood Disneyland memories that I have.

And...

a trip to Disneyland is not complete without a set of personalized ears!

Despite the madness, at the end of the day, most of us were still smiling.

We had asked Braeden what his favorite part was.

He said "All of it"!

Priceless.

A Major Award

"It's a major award"

"Fragile"

Just two of the many quotes that come up every Christmas.

I don't even know how many times I have seen the movie "A Christmas Story"
I even watched it in the hospital when I was in labor with Braeden.

Not only is it my favorite movie, it is my Dad's favorite movie too.

I knew what I needed to get him this Christmas. I think the Ralphie wrapping paper gave too much of a hint,

but as soon as my Dad saw "Fragile" he flew off the hook.

I have never in my lifetime seen him so excited over a Christmas gift.

In the past, he quietly opened his gifts, pushed them under a chair and went on with the day.

This Christmas he was beaming about his "major award" and "all it's glory".

Then he opened an iPad.

Brotherly Love

Christmas morning.

Tooth Fairy and Such

Guesstures. Have you ever played that game?

Sean and I played years ago with my sister and her husband. The card we all remember is "Tooth Fairy". We all rolled in laughter when Sean fluttered and pranced around the room pointing to his teeth.

This Christmas, Sean's folks made the trip from Northern California down to my parents in the Antelope Valley. They were able to spend a few days with us and hang out with the boys. While doing some Christmas shopping, we picked up the game.

Braeden was not sure what was going on but he came up with every excuse not to go to bed.

The cards are labeled "easy" or "hard". We started out with easy but it was not enough of a challenge. Most of the game was played with the hard cards which made it a lot more interesting.

Karen scratching her head??

George wanting more coffee??

Sean is saying he ate way too much holiday food??

George acting apish??

Karen on the hunt for her dinner??


Is Dad is trying to tell us something??

Braeden was not sure what to think of Grandpa when he threw himself on the floor and tried to inch himself along like a caterpillar.
Snorts, tears and screams of laughter. I have not laughed that hard in a long time.
It felt good.

Baby It's Cold Outside...

But the oven is roaring and it's hot in here.

Sean: "I decided what we will do as gifts for my employees."

Sean: "I decided what you will be doing as gifts for my employees" wink, wink.

Me: "What?"

Sean: "Bake cookies"

14 cookie tins full...

I was in a little time crunch on the baking since we were snowed/iced in.

The day I needed to buy supplies, the weather report said "travel not advised."

Rain, sleet or snow.... or icy roads... the baker will get through.

A few hundred cut out Almond Vanilla Cookies, a little colored icing...
some sticky messes...

and decorating was on it's way.
This was the first time I ever used flood icing and it was quite fun.
I added a little sparkle to my octopi snowflake cookies.

A hundred or so dipped pretzel rods.
A couple sheets of Chocolate Bark.

A few batches of Espresso Chocolate Snow Caps

Finally, a couple of batches of Peppermint Fudge and some Ginger Molasses cookies to top it off.

Mr. C.

Braeden was visited by a very special person 2 nights before Christmas.

Mr. C., Mr. Clause.

aka Mr. Gary Christensen.

Mail carrier by day, Santa by night.

Gary is a "real" Santa and when Christmas-time rolls around, he fills his spare time putting smiles on the faces of the littlest believers.

Braeden spared no time in telling him everything he wanted for Christmas.
One of the things he asked for was a "Lotso Huggin' Bear" from the Toy Story 3 movie.

It just happened that Santa had one in his bag.

Here was a conversation between Santa and Braeden:

Santa: "Are you a good boy?"

Braeden: "Yes"

Santa: "And you help mom around the house?"

Braeden: "Yes"

Santa: "Are you good to your brother?"

Braeden: "Yes"

Santa: "Do you do a good job at keeping your room clean?"

Braeden: cricket... cricket...

and a look of panic in his eyes wondering that if he said no.. did that mean he would not get anything for Christmas?

Gary is the husband of my mom's good friend Sunny. He took the time away from his family to do this for us. How awesome is that!

As he was leaving my mom handed him a little something and a tray of mini cheesecakes to take home to his "elves".

As Santa was one foot out the door, Braeden put down Lotso and headed towards him. Waving his hands in the air yelling "wait.. wait.. I almost forgot. I want an RC car with a remote control and a Mr. Potato Head with the eyes that pop off and....."

What a great end to a special night with a little boy full of excitement and parents and grandparents with tears of joy and laughter in their eyes.

Thanks Gary!