Were we home at all this month?

December started out with the squadron Christmas party, and since the mechanical bull had been such a big hit at a school event earlier this year, we rented it for the party!  Needless to say, it did not disappoint!  I did not attempt riding it but the kids loved it.  The photo booth was also a huge hit!  

Santa arriving on a helicopter was a HUGE success! That never gets old. 

Another fun activity was the snowball fight onto giant sheets of bubble wrap - CLASSIC!!  All in all everyone had a wonderful time at the party.  By far, one of the best we've ever attended! 

The next weekend was just as busy - imagine.  Yuma has the coolest idea for a Christmas Parade.  It is at night and every person and float in it has to be illuminated!  The parade is themed every year with this year being "A Favorite Christmas Movie."  Our Scout Troop picked "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."  The float depicted the Grinch on top of the Mountain in his sleigh looking down onto Whoville.  Everyone walking in the parade had to dress up as Whoville people. I will miss this event when we move.  So much fun!

The next morning the kids were our Church Christmas pageant.  They were three of the four bumbling angels sent to Bethlehem to announce the birth of Jesus.  They did a fantastic job.  The casting was pretty spot on!

Next up we had two school performances on two different nights.  Thankfully each grade sings a different set of songs so we weren't sitting through the exact same thing twice.  Lucy was up first, with Ben two nights later.

One thing that was on our bucket list before leaving the area was to visit the Tamale Festival.  We missed it the first two years but somehow we squeezed it in this year.  Lilly was game to try some tamales, but the other two were not having any of it.  They did agree to have some shaved ice however.  

Before you can even turn around, the kids are out of school and we are on the road to Utah!!  Of course we had to drive through Vegas to get there and so we decided to spend the night.  The kids love Vegas as much as their Daddy does (not good)!  We had some sushi at New York New York, and rode the roller coaster for good measure.

Headed back to the Bellagio to check out the fountains and the garden.  Of course we also headed over to Caesars Palace to hit a Lush store and see the statue shows.  

The next morning we had a blowout breakfast at Hash House a Go-go then got back on the road.  Next stop Utah!!

Since we are out here with no family close by, we have been trying to spend some of our breaks from school and work exploring the area.  For this last Christmas break we decided to head to Utah to ski/snowboard.  Last year was an epic snow year in the West.  This year, not so much!  Of course the resorts are busy making snow - round the clock if conditions will sustain it, but the surrounding areas are bare.  Didn't stop us! 

The weather was perfect, cold but not terrible.  The snow was good, not great and the crowds were minimal.  All in all a score!  The kids loved it.  Ben is improving his snowboard technique and would have spent the entire time in the terrain park if we would have let him.  Even when they were wiping out they were laughing!

The resort had a snow coaster that Lucy and Ben just HAD to try out.  Not sure it was worth the money but they certainly enjoyed it.

The best part of the ski day by far was after it ended and we got in the hot tub!  Since it is Christmas we brought along some festive things (lights, small ornaments for a tiny tree) to keep us in the mood.  Jim's sister and husband sent the kids these Santa Hats with beards.  They were very popular!!

Two days of skiing is all we could squeeze in for this trip.  Got to get back to Yuma in time for Santa.  The kids would have stayed for the rest of their lives!  My only regret, and I am pretty sure Jim would agree with me, is that we didn't really explore the town of Park City.  The resort has a way of keeping you on the grounds with all the activities that you forget you are just a few blocks from really cool things!  Not sure if we will make it back here, perhaps on the drive eastward, if we ever get orders that is.

One really cool thing that happened was I got to see these guys!! I had mentioned to my mom we were going to Utah the week before Christmas and she said she thought Leslie and Bubba were going to be there with their families.  What a small world!  I grew up with these two in Swansboro/Cape Carteret and it takes driving to Utah to see them.  It was great catching up even it was for only 45 minutes.  

Back to Vegas Baby!  Originally the plan was to drive to Flagstaff on the way home and maybe (hopefully) squeeze in a National Park.  However the kids decided they wanted another night in Vegas.  It wasn't hard to convince Daddy to go, especially since this saved us about 5 hours of driving!  

We got home on Christmas Eve Eve, just in time to crank out some cookies for Santa and to tie up a few loose ends in anticipation of the big guy's arrival.  We headed off to church on Christmas Eve.

Oscar still loves to lounge under his tree

Wesley isn't as cooperative as Oscar about the festive hat wear 

Well, maybe cooperative isn't the correct word.  More like tolerant.

We had two other families join us for Christmas dinner which always makes it more enjoyable.  The next night we invited several people over for an after Christmas/Tree burning party.  Not sure how we started this tradition nor am I sure if it is sustainable.  Jim ramped it up a bit this year with the introduction of a pinata.

Surprise - it was a big hit!! (Pun intended)

Apparently the main event of the party was this guy.

Our once perfect tree pretty much died the minute we left for Utah.  So sad because it was one of the best trees we had ever gotten.  Amazing how quickly it can turn into a potential torch!

According to the time stamp on my phone, this is 2 seconds after being lit.  So scary!!  We got a little overzealous with our burning or the tree was just that dried out.  This is the first time our tree stand didn't survive the burning.  Oops.

As if we hadn't done enough already this month, Jim also rented a Razor Quad from the base and we headed over to Buttercup Dunes to do a little exploring.  In the winter time this place is literally crawling with all kinds of vehicles.  It's like an apocalyptic Mad Max scene out there.  Every time we go by there, regardless of the time of year, the kids ask when we are going to go.  Today kids, today!  Well actually we had the Razr for 4 days!  It was sooooo much fun!!  Of course, they want to go back - who wouldn't? 

New Years Eve we crashed our neighbors house to hang out for a bit before heading home to watch the ball drop in our pj's.  Some of us were already in the bed "watching" it.  The kids still have a week off before school resumes on the 8th of January!!  Three weeks is a super long time to be home for the holidays!!