Holidays Rule!

The end of the year holidays are upon us, and we love this time of year. This post may seem long, but it's mostly pictures and videos (a first try for me). 

Thanksgiving was a special day with so much to be thankful for.

With the table filled with all kinds of food, it became a feast day

 We were careful not to over do. And later in the day went for a walk around the neighborhood.

Ellie's favorite thing was the Little People Manger that we got. Something that you don't have to say, "don't touch".

By the end of November, fall colors reached southern California.

 We took a day to drive over to the town of Julian. A small gold mining town in the mountains, which became better known for apple orchards...and apple pie.

 There were some unusual shops to walk through.

 But the best place was Julian Pie Company.

 We all tried different types of pie - boysenberry, Dutch apple, apple peach - but the best was my Dutch carmel apple!

To continue in that holiday spirit, we all went to The Nutcracker Ballet.

With all the colors and movement, Ellie (and Grandpa and Daddy) sat through the whole thing.

 It was an excellent production.

 The next weekend we went to the tree lighting ceremony in the community where Aaron and Rachel live.

 That was very well done too. There were wandering carolers, a train for kids, cookie decorating and hot chocolate. But best of all was the petting zoo with a "kid sized" calf, pony, goats, pigs and the fluffiest sheep I've ever seen.

We took a day to put up our Christmas tree and Sue decorated throughout the house.

We avoided Black Friday by going up in the mountains, but still Christmas shopping was done from Old Town Temecula to Old Town Murrieta to nearby businesses to internet and finally the mall.

Santa kept an eye on us at the mall to see who was naughty or nice.  Seeing him reminded us of the difference between tradition and truth.
Saturday night we went down the hill from our house to the Bible conference grounds to see a live nativity which clearly told the true story of Christmas.

The sheep got a little rambunctious - trying to jump the fence, but the story was very clear that our Savior came to save a world lost in sin.

Of course there was time for Ellie to see the animals afterward.

Just down the road was a neighborhood that is known for its light display.

It was neat to see blocks of houses with lights flashing on them to music in the car and outside.

What was tough was trying to get a shot of a house with all the lights on at the same time.

We all had a good time getting into the spirit of the season.

I started writing this post out on our patio, but the sun just got too bright so I moved inside to finish. Still there is another beautiful sunset to enjoy.