December 5, 2005
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Sunday after church, we went up to our son’s house. The plan had been to eat and watch the football game, Dan and Andy were going to put up Andy’s outdoor Christmas lights, then we were going to take Jake to see Santa and go to the Holidazzle. Plans changed because Jess wasn’t feeling well, Jake wouldn’t nap, and it was very cold, so we decided to postpone the Holidazzle and the Christmas lights. We ate, watched the Vikings game, and then Dan, Andy, and I took Jake shopping so that Jess could rest.
This mall is not far from Andy and Jess’s house. In the background, you can see a great play area for kids. There are lots of semi-soft formed plastic structures for them to climb. For that reason, the kids refer to it as the “Squishy Mall.” Outside the play area, there is a line of these machines that will move if you put in a couple of quarters. Jake chose this one because he is into construction machines. All the pictures get a little bigger if you click on them.
Then, we did take Jake to see Santa. Jake, being 2, did not completely understand the process. He thought Santa would give him presents when he saw him. He did not understand that he was supposed to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas. Fortunately, Jake can communicate quite well, so after we left Santa, Jake voiced his confusion to Andy. Andy took him back to yell his desires to Santa from beyond the wall encircling Santa’s area. Jake looked cute on Santa’s lap, didn’t he?
We had supper out and then headed back to Andy’s. We made some detours to look at Christmas lights on the way. I took some night pictures without a tripod, so they are not as good as they might be. Every inch of this house’s corner lot was covered with lights. Many of them are not very bright, so they do not show up well in the picture, but it was overwhelming. Andy said that they had taken Jake to see this house earlier. Jess asked Jake what he saw. Jake stared at the huge display for a couple of minutes and turned to Jess, saying, “I don’t know, Mommy. What do you see?”
This house had fewer lights that were arranged quite artfully. Note the Santa and Mrs. Claus climbing in the upstairs window. I guess they don’t have a chimney! I think this house would make a pretty Christmas card.
When we got beck to Andy’s, we stopped in for a minute to see if Jess was feeling better and had enjoyed her rest, then we headed home. I decided to take a picture of our lights as we approached the house.
It has been snowing very gently but almost continually here for a couple of days and the trees have been quite lovely. On the way to Andy’s, we passed several groves of trees out in the country that were very beautiful, but Dan did not want to stop for photos. I shot this picture of our neighbor’s evergreen as we were pulling into our garage. It’s not bad for a night photo without a tripod.
I hope everyone had a great weekend!
Comments (39)
Your lights look beautiful!
I love the very informal Santa Claus without his red coat . All the Christmas lights look great esp your house . I am jealous of your snow
RYC: You would think, but apparently, not. What if I had scurvy or malaryia?! Would they just make everyone go home everyday? Not that I want to contract these things to find out, but just wondering…
Good morning, my friend! Lovely photos! I love snow, but it’s not something we get down here much anymore.
I loved hearing about Jake’s confusion over Santa Claus. It was so cute! The pictures of the light displays are pretty!
How fun! I love looking at Christmas lights. And that looks like a very authentic Santa Claus… no fake beard!
RYC: Don’t tell anyone, but I think I might too.
Ha!
nice pictures. just stopping by to meet other people on the island blogring.
Great pictures!! I’m subbing if you don’t mind.
Aww…those are wonderful pictures. I am in CA and miss the snow
. What a wonderful weekend with family.
Awesome pictures !
Thanks for stopping by. You are one of Mike’s favs. I remember that. I am infatuated with folks who have snow and show snow in their holiday photos. I love the lights too.
Once when my grandson was about your babies age, we stood in line for Santa. Once we got there, he wouldn’t have anything to do with Santa. So, my d-i-l held his head in the picture. The picture came out so cute. Santa sitting there with my little boy’s head just right inside the frame to his left!
The snow is beautiful, isn’t it?! Your pictures are wonderful! I love the pictures of Jake and Santa! My daughter, Sarah, sat on Santa’s lap and he was in the same outfit (that was 7 years ago!). I love the suspenders, don’t you
? Take care and stay warm!
I like how you can see the glitter from the snow in the last picture. I remember that one of my favorite things about walking to school when I was younger was the way it seemed almost magical, glittering and reflecting Christmas lights if people had left them on all night.
Those pictures remind me of the houses out of those movies. My mom doesn’t decorate anymore, we don’t even put a tree up. For Thanksgiving, we ate steak…
Talk about traditional.
Young children just seem to make Christmas more magical. Your pictures have me more in the Christmas mood now. Especially the snow…it’s raining here again. But I did get to hike and it was sunny this past weekend. Take care…
There is a house down the street from us like the first one. I don’t think American flag is a good mix with Christmas and I do think it can be overdone.
ryc: Staff deserves their vacation days according to pastor. Guess she never heard of staggering them and I guess she thinks Wil and I deserve to work extra hours all the time as we are volunteers. Wil and I don’t mind, but what happens the day we aren’t available?
Beautiful pics and thanks for sharing. I hope you have had a great day. Be safe and take care.
Donna
Kids and Christmas are the best.
Beautiful little boy and the houses are all so pretty. I love that pic of Santa and the baby. He looks more Santa like than most, do you have Santa there? Are you holding him hostage? lol .. I’m kidding!
I loved your day and the pictures.
Peace and Love:)
RYC: I would never wtach an execution.
Beautiful pictures! Have a nice day!
Sounds like fun. We always like to drive around and look at the Christmas lights too.
My favorite is the tree with heavily laden snow covred branches. Nice.
Everyone who knows me, knows I hate winter. But I DO think that one of the most beautiful sights is an evergreen covered with freshly-fallen snow.
I love to go around looking at the light displays, too. But all I can think about is how high their electric bills must be!! Your place looks perfect. We used to put more lights up, but with Ken’s bad hip, he cannot do as much as he used to.
Jake looks so cute on Santa’s lap. Santa’s outfit is not the traditional one, which I think is nice. Know lots of little ones get frightened by Santa, but when he is dressed like this, he just looks more like a “grampa”!
nice photos
That last picture is a winner!! I so love snow on the trees! I also love the sight, but not the driving, when there has been an ice storm and the bare branches are laden with ice. They are so beautiful.
Love Jake’s name…also the pics of him!!!
Great pictures, Nancy–Jake is such a cutie. I miss not driving around to see the lights. There is a house/yard near us, that has tons of all white bulbs! A vision in the darkness! I certainly agree with you on boundaries, and sorry to hear you are having trouble someone-hope things improve?!
One Christmas Stan and went to a couple who had their name on the list for Christmas dinner and after we delivered that, we asked if they would like to drive around and see the Christmas decorations. They liked that and we took off. They were in the back and I noticed after awhile a lot of whispering and movement in the back seat so I turned and asked if everything was alright. The husband was the needier of the two and he had told his wife he needed the toilet!! We took them home, but they were happy with what they saw. I learned that you can kill someone with kindness!!!
Love your photos looks xmasy.http://www.natibow.com
tinkerbell and Jazmin send there love
Christmas is great through the eyes of a child–especially a grandchild! I like Santa’s casual look. Like coming into his living room! Have a beautiful Advent, Nance.
Hi Nancy! I just wanted to drop by and say thank you for looking over posting for Socrates Cafe. As you may have noticed, it is a bit disconnected because I can’t comment on it as often as I would like. Please help me out with this as much as you are able. I think I will continue this for one more week and then right up a conclusion to it.
-Colin
Thanks for stopping by and commenting - BTW my entry is linked as a comment to Astimari’s entry, being that I am addressing the same questions.
Great pictures. Your house looks very nice, and I like that second house too.
Dear Nancy,
I love photos of decorated houses. We have whole streets in some areas that go all out. I hope to feature a PhotoPost in the near future. Your photos are fantastic. You don’t need a tripod to take a good photo if it’s bright enough, and these are just right. I also checked out your Holidazzle entry from 2003. I used to work for Target, and knew that Dayton Hudson was the owner (and that in Minnesota there were “Dayton’s” and “Hudson’s” stores), but never knew about the Holidazzle. I also enjoyed reading about the “skyway”. Seems sort of like Toronto’s “underground” except you can see!
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
hey nancy, how are you? those are beautiful pics. jake looks happy in the bulldozer and your house looks real nice, it’s not overdone or anything. i love snow but there’s no sign of it here yet. santa in the pic looks like a real santa, the way he’s supposed to look
i think there’s letters from kids in that basket next to the chair. i helped decorate our christmas tree today and i had a friend over. we played PS2 games ’til my foster mom told us we had to stop ’cause i was getting real tired. i bet you’re busy ’cause it’s the holidays soon 
i’m going back to hospital tomorrow. thank you for mentioning me in your island entry, it means a lot. take care and enjoy the snow. i’d love to play in the snow! hugs, charlie
Ohhh he’s so cute!…I can’t wait for grandchildren!…and I miss snow…no chance of getting any here in So-Cal.
I can imagine you are gearing up for Christmas. Such a busy time!
Great pics and what a wonderful Santa!
Dear Nancy,
Just dropping by to see if there is anything new on your blog. Guess not. Hope you’re having a great week. RYC: I have a “tandem blog” with Elizabeth and each time I want to make an entry, I have to sign out and then sign in as another “user” in order to leave an entry. On Blogger, the “dashboard” lists multiple blogs for one account, so it is easier to maneuver between blogs. Originally, I had a blog for each section of my website, but since Xanga doesn’t set it up that way, I have only one blog and the “entries” are themed within the blog during the week.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
I like the picture of Jake on Santa Claus ‘ s lap .
The town become a fairyland . It ‘ s unbelievable . This is certainly an enchantment for kids and also adults . In France some people begin to light their house nut it is new .
Bravo for the pictures Nancy .
Love
Michel