Our Twelve Days of Christmas: Day 1

I love family traditions. Some traditions have been established for years. They have been handed down from parent to child for generations. {I enjoy black eyed peas every New Year's day because that is what my Grandma did.}

Other traditions just happen because you tried something once and you liked it and decided to do it again. And again.

This year we were invited to participate in my best friend's new family tradition. Three years ago they started gathering together in a bus to drive around the city and look at Christmas lights. This was our second year to be invited.

We gathered the Friday before Christmas, thus starting our twelve days of Christmas celebrations.

This tradition starts off meeting at my friend's mother's home. There is always a lot of excitement as we wait for everyone to show up. Adults and children a like reacquaint. My best friend gave all the kids a Christmas gift last year {pajamas} and they loved it so much she did it again this year. The younger one's were so excited they were getting matching pajama's again this year!

This is Joe. He is married to my best friend's mom. He is also a licensed chauffeur and has an employee benefit of using this big bus.Joe loves this night probably more than anyone! As a chauffeur, he drives all over Kansas City and sees really awesome light displays. I think he loves sharing that piece of his work with all of us. Joe also loves to dress up like Santa to drive the bus.

The bus is a traveling party; complete with pizza, drinks, desserts, and story telling. This year Joe took us to three places. We drove to the Plaza from the West driving through a few neighborhoods along the way.

Every house is decorated. It reminded me of Christmas with the Krank's. I wonder if you buy a house in these neighborhoods you have to sign a contract to hang lights up every Christmas?

These lights have almost look like a lazy approach. They just ran a strand of lights from the ground to a tree. However, they look like lasers when you are driving through them.

Before we knew it we were driving through the County Club Plaza. The Plaza was busy, as usual on a Friday night. People looking at the lights. People out shopping. People heading to dinner.

Yeah, the photos are a little blurry. Getting quality photos on a bus ride is not as easy as it sounds!

Our last stop before heading home was Union Station. By this time a bathroom break is needed and Union Station in Kansas City is just a beautiful building and beautifully decorated for the holidays.

The little people on the tour pose in front of a giant Christmas tree. The minute they got back on the bus they quickly changed into their new pajamas. Which worked out great for us parents, they were already dressed for bed by the time we got home!

They also pose on Santa giant sleigh.

We also spent some time wondering around the train exhibits.

Giant Nutcrackers.

Mrs. Claus double checking Santa's nice list.

We drove past Crown Center on our way home. Crown Center is home to the Mayor's Christmas Tree.

All in all, it was a wonderful night. A night of magical sparkling lights and good friends. It was a night to slow down and just enjoy a moment of the holiday season before the Christmas parties began.

Thank you dear friends for including us!

My Weekend Project: A PVC Camping Lamp Post and Flag Holder

I have seen a few of these around campsites and I knew I would like to have one. The only problem that I had is The Husband. He already thinks we drag too much stuff with us when we go camping and if I had told him my desire to have a PVC Camping Light Pole he would have shut it down quickly! So, that leaves a girl with only one choice: Figure out how to do it by herself. I did some internet searching and found a few road maps on RV forums. They seemed easy enough! I visited the local hardware store for the supplies: An exterior post lantern light 2 inch PVC pipe (I used 5 feet but had to purchase a 10 foot piece) A 3 inch toilet flange A 3 inch to 2 inch Reducer PVC Glue A 12 foot electric cord kit 2 - 3/4 inch PVC Caps I also used a few supplies we already had on hand: White Spray Paint 3 1/2 foot - 3/4 inch PVC Pipe Drill Bits (1 inch and 1/2 inch) Tent Stakes The first step was preparing the lantern light. I could only find black i

Liver Cheese: A Family Tradition

Today is an anniversary date. One of those dates you wish you did not have to remember but there is no way you can forget. Fifteen years ago today,two days after his birthday, my father died of lung cancer. He was a lifelong smoker and his cancer was aggressive. His battle was short. He fought for six short months after his diagnosis. He knew the chemo was not working and that his time was limited. When he came to this realization he became the best dad in the world. In the days before my father's passing, my family shared some memorable moments. One of those moments centers around the deli meat: Liver Cheese.I would not be surprised if you have never heard of it, or even never tasted it. But I was raised on it as it was one of my Dad's favorite things. What is it? Well, it is a German food that is actually called Leberkase. It is bacon, corned beef, pork, and onion that is ground together and baked. It comes with a

Tonsillectomy (Warning Photos!)

The Short Chic came down with a pretty nasty case of strep throat back in April. So, when The Boy started complaining about his throat hurting about 12 days later, I was pretty confident that he had inherited his sister's strep. Instead, The Boy was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess growing on his right tonsil. We had to immediately see an ENT Physician who took a needle and drained the abscess. He removed about 5.5 cc of puss from The Boys throat.and then told us that once you have a peritonsillar abscess you were high risk to keep getting them. The Boy's tonsils were now compromised and needed to be removed. We were told to plan for a two week recovery so we worked a surgery into our summer plans. Between family vacations, summer sports, and the beginning of school The Boy had his second surgery. A tonsillectomy. Pre-surgery prepping went well. It must be nice to be young and have healthy veins for an IV! The Boy had lots of pre-surgery visitors. My

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