Holiday Happenings

Tis the season! We've been gearing up for all things joyful and Christmas for the last several weeks, with many of our beloved holiday traditions. For the last 7+ years, I have been volunteering at the Dallas Operation Christmas Child shoebox processing center (2018 was my first year, 2019 was Naomi's first year). Since then, more family and friends have joined the endeavor and we've processed thousands of shoeboxes that end up in the hands of kids in other countries, sending small gifts and the good news of Jesus.

Ari (and another volunteer) joining us at table #5

Danielle distracted by filler items

Zan, Kris and Fin at our awesome-ness table #18

Naomi distracted by filler items (skirts for stuffed animals!)

A new record: we stayed until 10pm and filled 50 cartons!

Another repeat is my work holiday party. This year it was at the Gaylord Texan, and I'm pretty sure the OG Santa attended!

The theme was Under the Stars in Hollywood. The venue was fabulous (once we made it thru the 20+-minute traffic bottleneck...) and the food was delicious!

I didn't think I would get to be a part of handbells this Christmas due to travel this year, but turns out our church had a bonus opportunity to play and I loved every minute of it -- we played a super cool version of Little Drummer boy (although our drummer was sick the day of the performance), as well as one of my top Christmas hymns, Hark the Herald Angels! Plus, our family was invited to light the pink Advent candle of Love during the same service. 💟

On the flip side of things, one outing that had been a regular for years disappeared. Christmas Comes to The Colony had been hosted by Theatre at The Colony for forever, but this year it was quietly replaced by a regular play, Cinderella. It was a lovely production in December, but just not the same holiday flair. The funny thing, the last couple years attending the Christmas show had been disappointing (it changed under the new director), but when I was not given the chance to decide whether or not to attend, I missed it!

A new entry (thanks to our dear friend Erika) was the Light the World community nativity display at a nearby church. This place was filled with 700+ nativity scenes from around the world. It was amazing. Who knew one familiar scene could be depicted in so many creative and unique ways and medium. We successfully completed the scavenger hunt, which was mostly a way to keep an eye out for special displays amongst the many and not just rush through it. The nativity from Liberia made out of bullet casings had the most interesting story (#8), but the one that stuck out to me was seeing baby Jesus held by Joseph! (The other 699+ displays had Jesus in the manger or in Mary's arms!)

Wait, is that Sean the Sheep??

The Dallas Stars tend to organize something for the fans during the holidays, which means Jeff and his Stars crew get to spread cheer! With a real reindeer!

An every-so-often outing we enjoy that really should bump up to an every-year outing is Holiday in the Park at Six Flags. Thanks to 4 bonus tickets won at work, we were reminded how much we enjoy the surroundings. Naomi and Danielle like all the rides, Jeff and I like the lights and music (and some of the rides).

Six Festive Flags Over Texas

They ride, I take pictures.

Yes, the rides, but so many photo ops!

Merry Christmas, from The Smiths

And, of course, any time we are at Six Flags, we route ourselves to Mercado Juarez!

Happy to spend time with family! A visit with Mimi, Pa and Papa Murphy's pizza, of course. Jessica and Team Vallentine supplied the entertainment...Uno Golf. 

Hooray for Christmas cheer!