Christmas Day

I L-O-V-E Christmas.  I think I may have mentioned before that I go overboard on Christmas.  My girls love it too.  Chris? He gets into the spirit of it on Christmas Eve, and it is all over by Boxing Day.  We'll take what we can get.  With Grandma and Grandpa Ball visiting this year, I warned them in advance that there would be excess.  I'm pretty sure Grandma was quite okay with it.  She was even upstairs by 7:00 am.

So here's a recap of the Christmas morning rules:

- all girls must stay in their rooms until 7 am
- no peeking
- do not come out of your room until Dad comes to get you
- keep your eyes open until we say to open them
- you can check out your "Santa" gift
- you can open your stocking
- get some breakfast
- no presents under the tree will be opened until 8 am
- have fun
- sit and watch others open their presents
- Dad can hand out the presents all by himself (that's a hard one for little hands that want to help)

Amy seems to have caught my Christmas enthusiasm and is all for the surprise and fun and making Christmas last as long as possible.  Usually I keep the presents downstairs after I wrap them until the girls bring them up Christmas Eve.  That hasn't stopped my girls in past years from shaking and feeling and rearranging gifts in the closet.  This year a simple little note saying, "As much as you want to touch these presents, DON'T!" seemed be all that was needed.  And as much as they'd like to rip through all their presents, they secretly like that Christmas morning lasts longer than 20 minutes!

The girls took a lot more thought and interest in what they purchased for family members this year.  Chris and I both appreciated their thoughtfulness, and they were much more interested in seeing others' reactions when their gift was opened.

The next batch of pictures here are admittedly not sharply focused.  I should have had the girls sit closer to each other before Kristen opened her present so that I wasn't swinging back and forth between her and Amy and Misha.  We got Kristen a used iPod for Christmas.  The other two had to wait until they were older to get one.  We KNEW there would be some indignation.  We were looking forward to it.  That's what good parents do.

First, however, I thought Chris had wrapped her iPod.  He thought I had taken care of it.  When Kristen opened her iPod case present, we quickly had to improvise.  "Oh, sorry Kristen.  That was meant for Mom."  She was okay with that.  She wasn't expecting an iPod.  She was expecting a LeapPad II as that had been at the top of her list.  She gave the iPod case to me.

So when we were getting down to the last remaining presents, Chris looked at me and whispered, "Where is it?"  I responded that I didn't know, I thought he had taken care of it.  No.  It must have still been up in our closet.  Chris announced a short break for everyone to stretch their legs.  I raced upstairs, grabbed the iPod, grabbed the pink iPod case, raced down to my wrapping table in the basement, and then nonchalantly slipped the present under the tree with no one the wiser.  Whew.

Kristen sat to open her present, and I was ready with camera.  Kind of.  She first pulled out the pink iPod case which she had previously opened and looked up like, "Is this some kind of joke?"  Then she explored a little further and suddenly yelled, "I got an iPod!!!!"

Ah joy.  We got all three of them good.

Misha's present from Amy was last.  It was a little too big to wrap, so she had Misha cover her head while she retrieved the present from behind our bedroom armoire.  Misha was thrilled.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve is just as magical for my girls as Christmas Day.  This Christmas Eve was just a little different.  I try to create traditions, but it seems we have to tweak here and there every year.  We arrived home from our trip to Utah around 7 pm.  Chris and girls unloaded the car while Linda (Grandma Ball) helped me get dinner ready.  We planned tacos; it was easy enough to purchase the necessary items before we left for Utah.  We had a casual buffet style meal that seemed to satisfy everyone.

Once the dinner dishes were cleaned up, we sat down for a Christmas Eve devotional to invite the spirit of Christ into our family events of the next few days.  At the beginning of December, we drew names, including Grandma and Grandpa, and planned for a gift exchange on Christmas Eve.  I think it is a new tradition that we will continue.

And the long-awaited moment of bringing up the presents.  Amy was pretty sneaky telling her sisters, "I'll arrange the presents under the tree and you bring them upstairs."  I caught on to her sneakiness and told her she could help run the presents up the stairs as well.  Grandma and Grandpa sat and watched as the floor around the tree overflowed with presents. They kept exclaiming, "More?"  I warned them that I go overboard on Christmas.

Finally the presents were arranged, girls were excitedly sent off to bed, and I could breathe easy.  Oops wait.  Kristen was out of bed.  She had pulled out her other front tooth.  "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...." And now for the Tooth Fairy.

Christmas morning, here we come.

Off to Utah - Day 6

Christmas Eve and it was snowing.  Brad and I headed out early Monday morning to get a few groceries for the day.  I was just along for the ride.  I was glad that we hadn't had much snow to worry about in our Utah travels and hoped that the snow wouldn't be a big factor in Denver as we arrived home later that evening.  After returning from the store, my family packed up all of our stuff, made sure gifts were under the tree for our Utah family, said goodbye to my parents, Mitch, and Brad. 

We hadn't been to Shane's house in awhile and headed to his house to check out the progress he had made in remodeling.  He does nice work, and his home will be beautiful when it is finished.

The snow had given us a bit of a reprieve until we started toward our friends' home, the Boswells.  We stopped along the way to pick up pizza from Papa Murphy's and arrived shortly after noon.  They have a lovely home in the Sandy area.  It was great to visit with them, but we sure do miss having them around in Colorado.

We were a little late leaving Boswells, and the drive was slow going with all of the snow.  Definitely a white Christmas for Utah.  We made it to the airport, dropped off the rental car, checked in at SWA, and made it to our gate with a few minutes to spare.  We were a little late leaving with the deicing that had to be done, but that's okay since we would have to wait for Grandma and Grandpa Ball's flight at the Denver airport.

We finally retrieved ALLLLLL of our bags, secured our luggage on the hitch rack, and headed home.  The snow was just beginning to fall, and fortunately, we were able to arrive home safe and sound.

Off to Utah - Day 5

Sunday.  Two of my brothers who live at Traverse Mountain had church at 8:30 am.  My other brother had church at 1 pm.  We decided to not attend either of their wards and attended church at 11 am instead.  We only stayed for Sacrament Meeting but it was their Christmas presentation and lovely.  (We were disappointed to have missed our home ward's Christmas service).  We were getting together at Mitch's again for leftovers at 2:30 pm and had a little time to spare after church.  We drove around a bit, ending up at the Mt. Timpanogos temple.  It was nice to have a little relaxing time on a Sunday afternoon.

As the girls watched "Brave" at Mitch's, Mitch took Chris and I and my parents down to the new Adobe building for a tour.  Definitely an impressive building.  Once we returned, Chris and I were able to go and visit with Dallin and his family and meet his new son, Matthew.  Love little babies.

Off to Utah - Day 4

Brad left for work by 8:15 on Saturday morning.  It was the day of my parents' 50th Anniversary Party.  I had a few last minute things to wrap and purchase for the dinner at 1:30 pm. Since the girls were still at my sister's, Chris and I hurried to get everything completed by 11:30 am.  Susan was dropping the girls back off at Brad's so they could get ready for the party, and she, Chris, and I headed over to Mitch's to get everything set up.

Brad had my dad come for an eye check up so that my parents, who were staying at Mitch's house, would not be around and would have some element of surprise when they returned.  My dad had cataract surgery about a month ago, so it was nice that my Optometrist brothers could help in his recovery.

We set up tables, arranged flowers, and decorated.  Chris went back down to Brad's to pick up Amy, Misha, and Kristen who had had a chance to change and look beautiful.  The food arrived, the cake arrived, and most of the family arrived.  My other brother, Dallin, lived just down the street from Mitch's, but were waiting on nurses who had come to his house to check over their new baby.  Mitch finally went and got Dallin's kids, and Dallin showed up a little later.

My dad

 My brothers

My nephew who participated in a play about when my dad built our first house.  Wade was happy to announce, in his blue wig, that he was playing the part of his dad in the play.

My parents were married in the Cardston Alberta temple.

We ordered our meal from Tucano's in Provo/Orem and it was picked up by the rest of Susan's family and brought to us.  Thanks to my siblings who helped make this day wonderful for our parents.  They have set an amazing example for us and being happy together for 50 years is an outstanding accomplishment.  After dinner, my parents talked about their wedding, the early years of their marriage, having their first three children in quick succession, and going to school.  We lived a simple life, but we had lots of joy and love and fun.

I made them a 50th Anniversary book of pictures titled, "All Because Two People Fell in Love..."  With six children who have stayed strong in the gospel, many who have served missions, all who have attended college--some with doctor degrees, some with masters degrees, some who have married and started their own family legacies, they have a lot to be grateful for.  Their lives and their examples have made a difference to our lives.  We also gifted them a lawn mowing-free summer.  I was able to find a young man through friends at home who will take care of the lawn mowing for them this summer.

Following the dinner, my family and my two youngest brothers, Shane and Mitch got ready to go to the play "Savior of the World" at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake.  Once again, the traffic was abundant.  Chris let Amy and I out a couple of blocks before the Conference Center, and we ran the rest of the way to the Conference Center to get in line.  Seating for each section was open and the doors opened a half hour before the performance.  We raced along the sidewalk in dresses and heels dodging pedestrians until we finally reached the doors.   Amy and I waited in line until the theater doors opened and then I just kind of urged Amy forward and let her get the best seats possible.  Boy, did she deliver.  She got us seven seats together on the second row in front of the stage.  Amazing.

Chris and Misha and Kristen finally joined us after they parked in the lot under the Conference Center.  I called Shane and Mitch to find out how far out they were and they were stuck in a traffic at the entrance of the parking garage.  At least they were close, but they weren't able to make it to their seats until the play was seconds from starting.

President Eyring attended this performance of "Savior of the World."  It was neat to be in his presence.  His body guards kept the area surrounding him blocked off as I am sure the public would have descended upon him.  Just knowing he was behind was neat.

The play began with the Zacharias and Elizabeth finding out they were pregnant and then portrayed Mary's and Joseph's experiences and progressed until the crucifixion of the Savior and the sharing of the good news of his resurrection.  It was beautifully done.  I was so touched with the appearance of the Savior after his crucifixion and with the visual of the nail prints in His hands, it brought me to tears.

I love that we were able to share such a spiritually uplifting moment with our children, that they were able to feel the overwhelming presence of His spirit in their lives.  As a parent, the responsibility of teaching my children about their Savior and His love for them is paramount. 

The traffic was no lighter as we left the performance and tried to return to Brad's for the night.  In fact, it might have been a little worse because of the influx of traffic from the performance's attendees.  Chris left the carpool lane on-ramp entrance, drove ahead one exit, and got us turned around going back towards Lehi.  Mitch called and tried to warn us off the on-ramp lane as he and Shane had been waiting in it for quite some time.  We were almost back to Brad's house by then.

Off to Utah - Day 3

Another day of work for Chris, though he didn't think it would take all day.  My sister, Susan, had invited the girls down for the afternoon and all of the cousins for a sleepover.  My girls were pretty excited.  I love how when they get together with cousins, they just seem to pick right up where they left off.

Jenna, my niece, drove to Brad's to pick us up since Chris had the car once again.  It was another beautiful, sunshiney day.  The girls packed a backpack for their sleepover, and we were ready to go.  It didn't take the older cousins long to get involved in Apples to Apples.  I guess they played for hours.  I love that the Rice side of the family has older cousins for my girls to play with--boy cousins especially--to interact with and to have fun with.  Kristen played with my sister's youngest daughter, Lissy, and they had a great time.

Chris arrived after one pm.  We were just about to have lunch; he had picked up something on the way.  He came bearing good tidings though.  Donna and Dallin had their baby earlier that morning at 10:21 am.  Matthew William weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and was 21 1/2" long.  Yeah for a new cousin.  Chris, Susan, and I ventured to Costco and the mall.  Crazy, crazy busy.  We didn't stay very long at either place.  We made a stop at Harmon's grocery store on the way.  Chris had tempted the kids with the idea of donuts.  $8 for a dozen.  That was crazy.  Chris stepped in to the bathroom, and I waited for Susan to finish paying for her purchases.  Susan and I waited and waited and waited.  Hmmm.  Finally we sat down to wait some more.  Susan's phone rang (mine must have been on mute) and it was Jenna calling from the house saying that Chris was waiting for us outside.  I'm not sure how he slipped past us or didn't notice us.  We were standing right by the bathroom the whole time

We returned to Susan's to drop off the donuts, said good-bye to the girls, and headed back to Salt Lake City.  First to the airport where we had to change our rental car from a work rental to a personal rental.  Went from a mini-SUV to a sedan; fortunately, we still fit.  We were meeting friends fromour 2011 cruise at a Thai restaurant called Sawadee in downtown SLC.  The Weavers and the Foutzes arrived shortly after we did and we enjoyed good food and conversation.  Chris announced that he wanted some frozen yogurt after dinner.  The closest place was Farr's across the street from Temple Square.

Apparently, there was an easier way to get to the yogurt shop than the way we went.  The traffic was so bad around Temple Square that Chris finally went around downtown, parked a couple of miles away, and we took the train back to the city center.  We were late arriving, but still enjoyed time with our friends.

No pictures today.

Off to Utah - Day 2

Chris was off to work on Thursday morning, leaving us girls to hang out in downtown SLC.  We spent the first two hours at the hotel swimming pool and hot tub.  The girls were the only swimmers and had a grand time swimming, splashing, warming in the hot tub, and carrying each other around all morning long.  They probably could have stayed longer, but after two hours it was getting close to lunch time.  We headed up to the room, showered, and got ready for the day.

Since we weren't returning to the hotel, and Chris had the rental car for the day, we packed up all of our bags and left them at the front desk for Christopher to pick up later.  That's a handy little trick that I learned from my husband.  Shoot, we've even left our luggage at a hotel where we haven't even been staying.

Our intent was to spend the rest of the day at the City Center and Temple Square while Chris worked.  Amy requested, however, that we not make any mad dashes for the train as we had the previous night.  It had been too cold to wait outside for long.  "If we miss it, let's just wait for the next one."  Agreed.  Fortunately, the sun was shining and the day was already warmer.  We hopped off the train at City Center and made our way back to the Food Court.

Kristen asked us all to stop first to visit with Santa.  I decided that we would take a picture and surprise Christopher for Christmas.  This was one of the friendlier Santas that we had visited this season--along with Mrs. Claus. (I'll need to scan the pic later.  I just took a picture with my iPad and emailed it to myself.)


After lunch, we meandered through the shops at City Center.  Like I said, Amy is much more interested in shopping, she'd be even more thrilled if her mother paid for all of her purchases!  We stopped at Deseret Book to check out CTR rings for Misha.  Unfortunately, the styles she liked were not in her size, so we'll have to special order for her.

We headed on over to Temple Square and sat in the South Visitor's Center while Kristen watched some of the church vignettes.  Amy laid down on a couch next to me, and it wasn't too long before she was sound asleep.  I guess two hours of swimming can do that to you!  It was nice to rest for a bit before we headed back out to explore.  I think we were all ready for a little snack by this point.  We crossed from Temple Square to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  We entered next to the Family History area and Kristen keenly spied all of the coloring and toys in the area.  She began asking to return once we finished our snack.  It was lovely to walk in to the main area of the building and hear another high school choir singing.

We were happy to find the Nauvoo cafe off the main lobby area.  I found an apple to eat and the girls were thrilled with their own little ice cream containers of BYU Ice Cream.  I even got a raised eyebrow from the cashier over my apple.  Seriously!?  The girls were loving the ambiance of Temple Square, Misha commented, "When I grow up I want to have a Mormon job.  Well, I want a Mormon job or a Wicked job."  I had to write that one down.

I took the girls up to the top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building where we could look down on Temple Square as well as over the downtown area.  They were impressed.  We then returned to the Family History area where one of the missionaries encouraged us to have our picture taken as though we were newly arrived at Ellis Island. 

  
I noticed we had missed a call from Christopher as we headed back outside.  He was downtown, had already picked up the luggage, and was ready to retrieve us.  We met him in front of Deseret Book and then headed toward American Fork where we were meeting our friends, the Bergers, for dinner at Cafe Rio.  Holy busy, Batman!  We enjoyed our time catching up.

After dinner, we headed back to my brother Brad's house where we would be spending the next few nights.  It was the night of the BYU bowl game, so my brother, Mitch, was there, and Dallin with his kids.  Dallin's wife, Donna, due to have a  baby any day, stayed home for peace, quiet, and relaxation.  My parents were also there.  They had spent the day driving from Alberta--about eleven hours in good weather--and they were pooped.

Brad and I sat upstairs in his office talking and listening to the progress of the game.  Mom and Dad came upstairs a short while later and headed off to Mitch's house to go to bed.  We all zonked in bed once the game was over.

Off to Utah - Day 1

I don't remember exactly when we decided to go to Utah for Christmas, but we thought that it would be a fun idea as the girls would be out of school for a week before Christmas Day.  We hoped it would make the time pass by easily and quickly for all of us.

We had an 8:30 am flight on the December 19th which meant we would need to be out of the house before 6:45 am.  Good thing our girls were excited for the trip otherwise we would have had some major grumbling going on.  I slept quite poorly all night long.  A major winter storm had been forecast to begin around 2 am, meaning our trip to the airport could be quite treacherous.  We were blessed that flakes didn't start to fall until 4:45 am.  The roads were still quite clear as we made our way to the airport.  We missed the worst of the snow as it continued to fall throughout the day.

We parked in the Pikes Peak lot (U3).  It was a cold morning so it was fortunate that plenty of buses were in the lot.  They weren't moving too fast however, so it was a good thing we had allowed some extra time.  We finally arrived at the terminal, checked in, and breezed through security with our CLEAR passes.

Our flight was delayed for ten minutes due to the weather.  We knew this was going to be a crazy flight to Utah, at Christmas, with tons of families.  No joke, there were tons of families.  I think half of the plane preboarded.  Sadly, we had to wait after boarding for an hour for late arriving transfers and who knows what else.  Twice, after the plane was already boarded, a mom arrived with her kids in tow and the flight attendants had to ask people to move so that this mom could sit with her children.  Finally we pulled out of the gate only to be stopped again for deicing.  Misha had an eye appointment with my brothers and it looked as though we were going to miss it.

We finally arrived in Salt Lake City to cold temperatures and sunshine.  We picked up our rental car, dropped Chris off for a day of work at IHC, and headed for lunch; we decided on Fazoli's.  The eye appointment was missed so we decided to stop at Thanksgiving Point's Emporium and then headed over to the new outlet malls at Traverse Mountain.  It seems to have happened over night--Amy is a shopper.  We stopped and waited for her to try on things a myriad number of times.  Thank heavens for iPods to help pass the time for younger sisters.

As we drove back toward the IHC campus to pick up Chris, we caught a message from my brothers' office that they had an opening for Misha and Kristen for eye appointments at 4:30.  We had already passed 123rd, so we did a quick turn around at 90th and headed back to Draper.  I called Chris on the way to tell him we would be late.  It was a good thing he was able to find a ride to our hotel in downtown SLC because we didn't finish at Hidden Valley Eye Care until after 6.  And we left with two girls getting glasses, mostly for reading and computer work after school.  Of course, Misha plans to wear her glasses all the time.  (We'll see how long that lasts).

We met up with Chris at the hotel, unloaded luggage and bundled up for a walk to the train to take us to the new City Center area.  It was so cold.  The coldest night of our trip.  Oh well, we still enjoyed the lights.  We had dinner at the Food Court of the City Center and seemed to please everyone's palates.  We walked around Temple Square for a bit, stepped into a building every so often to stay warm, and finally ended up in the Assembly Hall listening to a student choir.  Impressive.

On our return to the hotel, we had to race for the train so as not to be stuck waiting outside in the cold.  We opted to skip swimming as the girls could swim in the morning.

Early Christmas

We had lucked out with fairly decent weather for December. I was hoping that the puffy jackets I had already wrapped for Amy and Misha wouldn't be needed before Christmas, but looking at the temps in Salt Lake City (where we were headed) inspired me to search through the stack of already wrapped presents, and unwrap a few, to find some cold weather wear for them. And to make it equal in the early gift giving, the zipper on Kristen's winter jacket broke. New jackets for everyone.  We had no complaints from the girls.

School's Out

Another semester down and Amy is beginning the countdown to High School.  AAAAAGHGHGHG!  My girl is growing too fast.  Too fast!  We toured the Mead High School and got a little glimpse into the changes in store.  I suppose there's excitement and trepidation all in one.  Amy will get the chance to continue with her core classes and was excited that French was taught (she has resisted learning Spanish).  The technology courses looked cool enough that even her mom wished she could take some of those classes.  So much to look forward to.

She's a Teenager

There are a few milestone birthdays out there, and this was one of them.  It is a blessing to have Amy in our home.  She is such a sweet girl as well as dependable, caring, humorous, and light-hearted.  She keeps us laughing at the dinner table many nights.  (The topics, though, I never expected to have with daughters.)

We started the day with candles in her breakfast.  She likes to eat her Eggo waffles with strawberry creme cheese in the middle.  The candles didn't stick in so well, so she had to help out a bit.  We sang "Happy Birthday" and she was out the door to school.

We aren't so traditional with our birthday cakes.  In fact, our tradition seems to be to not have one.  When I told Amy she could have a caramel apple for her birthday she was thrilled.  She picked out two--one to share with her family and one to savor on her own--and we all thoroughly enjoyed the treat.  Surely it must be healthier than cake with frosting.

When she arrived home from school, we had a few of her gifts sitting in the living room, and balloons leading up the stairs to her bedroom.  We had her leave the cards and presents until Kristen got home from school, but she was thrilled with the task chair and...a desk.  It wasn't new, but it will be well-loved.

Happy birthday my teenager.

A gift from Dad.  Chris took Amy shooting a couple of weeks ago and this was her target.  He framed it for her and left a little note, "Amy, You're a good shot.  But remember (and please be sure to remind your boyfriends) that I am an even better shot."  The arrow was pointing to Chris' one shot on her zombie.

Isn't she beautiful?

School Concerts

If December weren't busy enough... Let's add in a couple extra concerts to round out our schedules.  Chris has actually been home a lot of this month due to a travel freeze for work.  We are enjoying his company, and he was able to attend both of the girls' concerts.  I had a church meeting for Misha's so it was nice to have Chris take over there.

Amy's concert was a few days later--on her birthday no less.  She was not thrilled about having to attend on her birthday nor having to miss her Young Women white elephant gift exchange.  She is skilled with the hand chimes though.  It was rather funny to watch her and her friends after a particularly fast-paced and challenging song high-fiving each other at the finish. 

Good job girls.  I am impressed with your musical talents as a hand chimer and a percussionist (not a drummer).

Bishop's Storehouse

Our daughters were pretty thrilled to know that we were keeping them out of school on Friday morning, December 7th.  We had the opportunity to serve at the Bishop's Storehouse at the Stake Center in Longmont.  We have had the blessing of being able to serve in this way three times now and always it is a great way for my children to recognize their blessings in this life.  And missing a couple classes in school isn't such a bad deal either!

Flowers

I hadn't been sleeping well back in November when I was feeling overwhelmed by all the things I needed to do for December.  One afternoon I was resting and heard Chris return from a meeting in the Denver area.  It was still early in the afternoon, so he headed back downstairs to continue working.  As the time drew near when the girls would be home from school, I arose and went downstairs to unlock the front door.  As I walked in to the kitchen, I was met with these beautiful flowers from my sweetheart.

Santa at the Library

Sadly we missed the arrival of Santa at the local library last year, so way back in November, Kristen kept asking me to find out when he would be at the library this year.  I made sure to put it on my calendar.

We arrived at the library at 11 am on Saturday, the 1st, to get in line for Kristen's turn.  Misha came to the library to pick out some books and didn't really have any intention of seeing Santa herself, but I picked up a ticket for her anyway.  She was a good sport about posing for me with Santa, and she didn't complain about the bag of treats and candy she received.

Denver Parade of Lights

We met our good friends, the Riddles, in Denver on Saturday the 1st for the Parade of Lights.  We had never attended before and were looking forward to a fun evening.  We joined them at The Cheesecake Factory first for a late lunch.  Kristen kept sneaking over to the bakery counter with Elijah R. to spy all of the cheesecakes in the display case.  She came back after having determined that cookie dough cheesecake was her selection.

We were seated at the front of the restaurant, and I had a clear view to the sidewalk in front.  There was a lot of interesting people watching going on.  Every so often the 16th Street bus would stop in front of the restaurant to load and unload passengers.  At one such stop, I happened to notice a rather large woman facing her husband and..."She's squeezing a zit on his forehead."  Everyone at the table turned to quickly look and then groaned at having looked.  Besides the fact that she was squeezing her husband's zit in public, her shirt lacked a lot of fabric and her ample stomach hung out all over the place.  And then the doors closed and the bus was gone.  Ugghh.  Well, the people watching got even more attention after that.

We left The Cheesecake Factory and returned to our respective vehicles to pick up warmer jackets.  The evening was so pleasant, I had planned to be cold but it was rather enjoyable.  We happened upon a piano sitting along the mall, and Misha sat down and entertained us all with "Carol of the Bells". 

Here's her sister in the background distancing herself from us and thinking, "This is so lame.  I can't believe my sister is playing the piano in public."  Any requests to hear from Amy were met with a firm denial.  

Jamie

After walking around the 16th Street mall for awhile, we made our way to the parade route to find a seat.  Jamie spied a place to sit right in front of a Santa in a wheelchair, and she and the kids enjoyed a lovely spot throughout the parade.  There wasn't room for all of us, so Chris, Jeremy, and I hung out next to the building as the sidewalk became more and more crowded.  The parade was about a half an hour late in getting to us, but was quite enjoyable with balloons, marching bands, lighted floats, and ...

Santa.