Holiday In Lights....

It's been kind of an emotional day. Mom and dad flew out and returned home this afternoon. The month really did fly by! The thing with it is that I don't think I can ever convey just how thankful I am for all the help mom gave us, and I don't think she can ever fully understand it. Poor Luke was a bit confused. He kept asking where "Gaum" (that would be a combo of gam and gum) and "Mel" (he calls my dad by his name...weird) were...."some more." He's stuck on saying "some more" with everything. EVERYTHING. It's really quite funny! But it was really difficult when he kept asking for them. To gain a better vantage point than we were offered in the airport (thank you once again, terrorists. Nothing like complete inconvenience to get through the day), Luke and I piled into the car and drove onto Peterson AFB to watch the plane take off. He saw, knew what it was, asked if it was Gaum and Mel, then said "bye, bye Gaum-Mel." He was also waving.

I made a run to the mall that's right near the Springs airport, a planned trip. While in the store waiting our turn to pay, Luke kept calling out for his Gaum. When I'd quietly tell him she went home, he'd call for his Mel. The process repeated I don't know how many times. It was tough. He took a short nap in the car when we met the freeway on the way home, looked in the guest room when we got home, and hasn't asked since. He's now more confused by the other parental unit working overnight. Currently he's walking around saying "Daddy, where are you??" I'll be surprised if we don't repeat the process again tomorrow.

We made it home for a little bit, just enough time to say hi to Daddy before he had to leave. We left about 10 minutes later for the community's Holiday in Lights parade. Yes, Pueblo has one (it was last weekend). Yes, Colorado Springs has one (it was also tonight), but so does our little community. They do special little things to let us all know we're appreciated...despite the Board being full of a bunch of doofuses. The annual parade is accompanied by the lighting of the (teeny-tiny) community Christmas tree, a HUGE bonfire, a special visit with Santa, and tonight we had fireworks.

We all experienced this event when Luke was 6-months old. There was a fair amount of snow on the ground and it was cold, so we remained in the car. Last year Daddy met us there because he had to work. There was no snow, but it was frigid. Seriously, it was in the teens. I couldn't get warm enough, but Luke was bundled in his Sorel boots, snow pants, heavy coat, hat, and gloves. Underneath was the fleece-lined jeans, and something warm up top. He was ticked because he was sweating. We got enjoyed the parade, then ventured up to the bonfire. It was fun, but Luke wasn't much impressed, I don't think. This year it was just Luke and me. Daddy is covering for an injured co-worker. There's no snow, it was a balmy 43 degrees, and we had a good time. We didn't attend the bonfire this year, though. Luke has a bad cough from a crazy cold and I didn't want to keep him out too long. We did get to see the fireworks, and we drove through the neighborhood to get home. Forgive the pictures...it's not the easiest thing to capture since it's dark.
In the car waiting for the start

I'm glad we had to take the scenic route! If not, I wouldn't have caught these pictures. The first house has to have a serious electric bill. They do this each year. Every inch of their property is covered in lights. They have an inflatable carousel that sings. They have a train! They have just about anything you can think of. All other houses pale by comparison.

Including this house. They also decorate this way each year, complete with the oh-so-subtle reminder of what we Christians actually celebrate. I can only imagine what the area atheists and large population of Jehovah's Witnesses think! By the way, this display also sings....and half the lights aren't in the picture because they blink to the music. I just couldn't catch it.

Next-door neighbor, Joe, got his lights up tonight, too. This year he put them in the trees instead of on his house, but it looks nice. Ours will be up in a few days.

Since I was a brainless tweed this morning and sprayed my child's hair with sunblock instead of No More Tangles, I need to get him in a bathtub. Maybe I can have my head on straight tomorrow.....