It's Christmas Time Again

Ahh yes that time has arrived. I am of course speaking of Christmas time. I am trying desperately to find the Christmas spirit, but to be perfectly honest I am having trouble doing that so far. I want to assure you of my efforts by documenting a few of my doings.

Two weeks ago I went with my dear cousin Jacqueline to the Disneyland Cast Christmas Party. It was the coldest day all year in CA. Even with three layers and a beanie it was still on the cold side. Despite that we enjoyed the park. We went over to CA Adventure and went on the Tower of Terror. I love that ride and I don't think I grabbed the stranger sitting next to me like I did the first time I went on it. Jakob, took us on The Haunted Mansion. Jakob is a Whittierite and was nice enough to buy a bread bowl for Jack-O and I. We went on Star Tours and a little girl shushed me quoting it, apparently it's a combat zone...it's restricted.

Jack-O and I enjoying the Parade at Disneyland.

I'm pretty sure that Jacquline is the most popular person at the Magic Kingdom, because everywhere we walked someone recognized her and all were devastated when they found out she was leaving for Utah the next day. Thank you Jack-O for letting me be your date for the soiree. If I were to describe the evening in two words it would be...ga ga. And yet I still had not grasped the Christmas spirit.

So I took it upon myself to supervise the decoration of our Christmas tree. It is critical that you know I did not actually decorate the tree. I got all the decorations out, organized and prepped them, but the kids did the actual decorating. They did it in three stages because of their different heights. It actually turned out pretty well.

Our lovely, and in no way "real" Christmas tree.

In an effort to expand our horizons outside of Whittier, my sister Chrissi and I discussed what possible activities we could do to take further of the Christmas season. She had heard about something that the City of Los Angeles puts on every year. So I along with my brother in law Don, sister Chrissi, and my nieces and nephew loaded into the Yukon and headed for the city of Angels. We didn't really know what to expect other than we would be seeing some lights.  As we neared our destination we were shocked to see that all 3.4 Million people in LA had decided to go there as well. It was packed for the driving tour, the exits from the freeways were backed up and the kids were getting slightly restless.

The LA DWP Light Festival

Just before we were about to enter the festival, my nephew says "I have to pee" There are no bathrooms. He's four, so "holding" it is not really an option. However we had an Arby's cup. I think the most impressive feet was when I squished my 6'3" frame over the center console while my brother in law jumped out the door and into the backseat. I'm still not sure how I fit but I did. Without missing a beat I took over the wheel and Gavin took care of business. After subtly pouring the contents out the window, we enjoyed our drive through the lights of Griffith Park.

I enjoyed the drive but most of the other participants said we can check that one off the list of things to do.

Still hoping to develop some semblance of Christmas Spirit, I went with the Traditional Norwegian sweater for church today. I wanted to put a picture of me wearing it on my blog, but when I took the picture today, I thought my face looked fat.

I got to church and the kids were wearing their Christmas finest. I thought I might as well have them in the picture with me. I don't believe my face looks fat in this one but you can judge for yourself.

 

So now it is Sunday evening, the 49ers lost and their play off chances are gone. Just wonderful. Evening listening to Christmas music isn't helping much. I will keep you abreast of any developments in regards to finding the Christmas spirit. At least it's been about 80 degrees the last couple of days and I wore shorts yesterday.

Please enjoy this song by Blink 182.