Merry Christmas!

Yes, we can actually say Merry Christmas here. That's probably one of the best things about being here. I have been amazed that my kids actually have CHRISTMAS parties, not just holiday parties. People actually wish each other "Merry Christmas" not "Happy Holidays". I guess that's one good thing about the army, the actually let people be religious if they want to be.

Monday night, Clay's squadron had a Christmas party. It was interesting to meet some of the guys I've heard about and put names with faces. An interesting group for sure. They all found us very interesting too (5 kids).

Santa made an appearance too and gave all the kids a gift. Here's Samantha and Clay checking out Santa. He's not so scary that far away.
Christina and Jonathan waiting to see Santa.
Daniel and Santa.
Amanda and Santa.
Jonathan and Santa.
This one cracks me up. Samantha didn't like sitting on Santa's lap and Santa apparently wasn't too impressed either.
Christina and Santa.
Last night we went to BLORA where they do a light display every year. It was amazing! It was over an hour driving in the van to see the lights. Nice, cheap entertainment for the whole family. It was so much fun to listen to Samantha oohing and aahing over the lights. Better than fireworks! The kids all loved it!

Here's a small taste of what we saw--