Goodbye 2018, thanks for the memories!

Goodbye 2018, thanks for the memories!

            I love Disneyland, I love the Holidays and above all else I love making memories with my family. My family that I was born into, married into and then just plain adopted. I can never have enough people around me or events to share with those people.

Last Christmas I decorated the house on November 1^st! I just could not help myself and since it was my tenth wedding anniversary it felt like the perfect gift! Terry was fortunate to get his hands on a Beta test of Fallout 76 so to the tune of dying zombies and flaming pitchforks the funky Christmas ornaments were hung with care. William thought my whimsical Kristmas Kringles ornaments were scary and wouldn’t let me hang them. So after he got tired of helping me I snuck them on the tree, he was shocked and appalled the next day to find presents with high heels and fish lips hanging from our tree. Eventually he got over it. 

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Every year we are so lucky to enjoy Disneyland at the Most Magical Time of the Year with Uncle Tim. Thank you Uncle Tim! William and Allison got to ride the fire truck down Main Street USA for the first time last year. No more strollers for us, they are now old enough to walk on their own. Well almost on their own, William did need a little help at the end with a ride on Terry’s shoulders. Each year the kids enjoy a little bit more than they did the year before, from It’s A Small World, the Christmas Fantasy Parade and Viva! Navidad they are following in holiday traditions that I enjoyed with my parents. 

Christmas day dawned with a beautiful cloud display; Santa had visited along with the reindeer! The cookies and apples were eaten and a huge pile of presents were left for Allison and William, even Terry and I got a few fun toys in our stockings. Then we headed over to my parent’s house for dinner and another pile of presents waited to be opened. An epic snowball fight, with homemade cotton snowballs, ensued and Alyssa beat the pants off of Gabriel and Xander. Her softball arm was the secret weapon. 

       
           Thank you Uncle Eric for our Christmas present of a trip to Knott’s Merry Farm! All of the Camp Snoopy favorites were visited and a few of the newer roller coasters. Allison has become quit the little daredevil and cannot get enough of the fast rides, if she is tall enough she will ride it! William loved the Big Rigs and the Train.  

New Year’s Eve came blowing in through Southern California, the wind kicked up the fire and swirled our cries of delight high into the air for the whole neighborhood to hear. Spending time goofing off with the White Elephant Gift Exchange and some very competitive Beer Pong was a positive start to 2019. 

For the first time our little family headed out to Riverside to the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa for the Festival of Lights! It was a really fun and really cold walking the downtown area at night enjoying all of the million of twinkle lights adorning the old buildings. A horse drawn carriage ride, the likes of which Cinderella herself would have approved, was the perfect ending to the evening. It was so much fun exploring a new tradition with Heather and Carlos in their perfectly cute neighborhood. 

The end of 2018 was fun for me and I hope it was for all of you. Happy New Year!