More Christmas merriment!

On day 3, the kids unwrapped Christmas books.  A few were new but a few we'd had and we read them that night and most nights this month.  But on day 4 we made salt dough ornaments.  The kids loved rolling out the dough and picking different cookie cutters to use.

 

And on another day we painted them and then gave them out to friends and family.  Such a fun activity!

On the 5th day, Tatum's kindergarten went to see the Elves and the Shoemaker play.  I got to be a chaperon on the bus.  It had been many years since I'd been on the bus, a flash back to elementary school for me since I took a bus to school from kindergarten through 6th grade.  I loved it and so did the kids!

Abigail and I sat together and she said, like all the other kids, the best part about the bus is there are no seat belts. :)

This was my group of girls, from left, Regan, Kaitlin, Tatum and Abigail.  A sweet group of girls and great listeners.

After arriving at the Escondido Arts Center, the kids enjoyed lunch and some free time.

Then we headed into the theater for the show!

 

Tatum and I had a blast and I was so happy to get to be a chaperon for a day.  And we all loved the play, excellent job!

On day 6, I had my Wine Night girls over and we enjoyed a chili bar for dinner, festive pomegranate seeds and green rimmed champagne and then we all exchanged our favorite things.  We each brought 5 of our favorite thing or things under $6.  We all enjoyed getting champagne, hair ties, lip balm, candy, key ring, coffee gift cards and wine.  A wonderful night!

 

On day 7, while the boys enjoyed dinner and a movie out, the girls went to December Nights in Balboa Park.  It was a cold night and after finally finding a parking spot, we got there just in time for all the festivities to begin.

They had beautiful lights up all over the park.  There were lots of craft booths and food booths, and lots and lots of lights!

 

After walking around a bit, we headed to the courtyard outside The Prado for a drink.  Tatum enjoyed a Shirley Temple while Grandma and I enjoyed a white wine.

 

And then we all enjoyed throwing coins into the fountain and making wishes!  Tatum kept faking us out and not throwing hers in.  She thought that was pretty funny. :)

But eventually we all made wishes and Tatum's came true just a few minutes after when we walked down the museum strip and she got a cup of hot cocoa. :)

I had to get a picture of this.  Someone had dressed up their dog and were driving him around in this remote controlled car.  The things people will do to their pets! :)

 

After grabbing some delicious food from The Prado food truck, we sat down at the Spreckles Organ Pavilion and watched them light the tree and listened to a choir.  Really beautiful.

Then we walked through and reviewed the story of Jesus' birth...

and then after some chocolate covered strawberries on a stick, we said good bye to December Nights and headed home. 

On the 8th, we put together a foam Nativity Scene.  Wow, that was much more complicated than I thought it was going to be.  Lots of little parts and lots of details. 

But we pushed through (more work on my and Grandma's part of course) and it came together!

Then Garrett and I headed down and checked into the Manchester Grand Hyatt for his work party.  Here was our view and sunset!

 

 

Then we headed down to the cocktail hour and to my dismay, found it outside.  Come on, it's winter!  Who puts the cocktail hour outside!  Well, I was definitely not dressed for it but we enjoyed visiting with his work friends for an hour and then headed into the dining hall.

We enjoyed sitting with Garrett's coworker Chuck and his wife.  And after a delicious meal we all headed up to the 40th floor for more drinks and merriment.  A wonderful night!

The next morning, I headed down to the hotel coffee shop and on my way there, I saw this gingerbread display in their lobby.  Amazing!  This is a replica of the hotel, completely made out of ginger bread!  And then each little ginger bread house was made by a group of 3rd graders from near by schools.

They asked you to vote for your favorite so after looking at each one, I chose #7A.  Perfectly placed candy, love it!