Holiday Evening Fun

I love Christmas lights, especially when there are a lot of them and the glow lights up the room or the sky. We've done two holiday events so far that involve lots of lights. First we went to the annual lighting ceremony at the Broadmoor Hotel on November 29. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the evening. We spent some time waiting to see Santa and there was a gorgeous Christmas tree in the room just before we got our turn. I sat the kids down for a picture.

and here are a few closeups of the tree... aren't those decorations gorgeous?

and all of the kids took a turn sitting on Santa's lap and telling them what they wanted for Christmas. This was the first year that Sarah was willing to get close to Santa. She told him she wanted a My Little Pony Pinkie Pie doll... I'm sure that Santa will fill her request ;)

journaling: We attended the lighting ceremony at the Broadmoor hotel, and after Santa turned on the lights for everyone he was available for the children to visit with. We were entertained by Mrs. Claus while we waited in line with singing Christmas songs and letting the kids dance. I wasn’t sure if Sarah was going to sit on Santa’s lap this year, as she hasn’t wanted anything to do with him in previous years, but she watched her older sisters visit with him and then sat right down on his lap and whispered in his ear that she wanted a My Little Pony Pinkie Pie doll.
credits: Christmas in Your Heart by Dianne Rigdon at scrapartist.com; Postage Stamp Template by Amber Clegg at scrapartist.com; Templates With Attitude Trios 1 by Tracy Blankenship at funkyplaygrounddesigns.com; Covered Stamp Sheets 2 by Meredith Fenwick; Santa postcard by Christina Renee; Destroyed Papers templates by ScrapIdea-Timkova; glitter alpha from Holiday Spirit by Dani Mogstad; fonts: Arial Narrow, CK Becky

after we finished visiting with Santa we went back outside to walk to the main hotel, which is across the lake. I just loved this big beautiful tree .

Inside the main hotel lobby is where the gingerbread house display is. They had a town made of lots of different buildings this year- not all of them are even in this photo as there were too many people in the way for me to get a clear shot of the whole thing at once.
and this tree graced the fireplace area across from the gingerbread town.
The view of the hotel as you drive down the road towards it after the lights were turned on. I love going to the zoo in the evening this time of year as you drive right by the Broadmoor and get to enjoy their lights too on the way.
and my favorite tree on the corner across from the hotel- it's a weeping willow and they cover it with twinkle lights that hang down among the branches and it looks like a cascading waterfall - so gorgeous! The kids are tucked underneath the tree, if you look carefully ;)
The next lights event took place this past Saturday, December 6- that was the Festival of Lights parade in downtown and the Horizon Marching Band participated in the parade again. Here are the kids all lined up for the annual picture in the gym before they get on the buses to head downtown. Bryce is in the 5th column from the right, third row back from the front.
and here he is outside during their run through of the music one last time.
and here they come down the street in the parade. Unfortunately we happened to be at a spot along the parade route where they were resting, so we didn't get to actually here them play this time. They started playing again just as they got past us.

We will go to the zoo to see their big lights display probably next week. This weekend there are dance performances and church musicals and other things to do this weekend!