Getting Ready for Christmas...

Can you feel Christmas in the air? We are getting there with enjoying that feeling of Christmas.

Thursday, November 29th, I was in Georgetown visiting Papa. When I returned home, this is what I found in our front yard. The day was very cold but my dear Hubby had gotten this done on the exterior illumination. This could be the last year for this little nativity. It is really wearing out. We have really enjoyed it on our front lawn for many years.

Our Christmas Date Part 1 was Friday evening, November 30th. We realized we had an evening with no commitment. We both wanted to see the lights at the Ark Encounter. We have toured the Ark two times so we only wanted the Christmas light experience. That is free every evening from 5pm to 8:30pm. You must pay $10 for parking but there is no entry fee to the grounds of the Ark. We started our evening with dinner in Florence at Smokey Bones. Good barbecue. Then we drove to the Ark Encounter. It was serenely lovely. We strolled through the lights. They have added a Monument Walk and we walked through that. We watched the kids ice skating. This rink is made of a fake ice that feels like the real thing. That is $5 per person. We did not skate. We are old enough we are wary of breaking any bones. After our stroll, Claude got a hot chocolate and I got a soda. Then it was back to the bus that takes you to the parking lot. It was a really lovely evening. There were three pairs of animals walking towards the ark in the light display (elephant, giraffe and lion). This was very appropriate for the Ark. The lights change on the surface of the Ark. You can take several pictures and they all feel a little different because the color has rotated from red to purple to blue. I chose the picture with the trees and the fore of the Ark because it was purple. Go figure... Here are a few pictures of the lights.

These are pictures of the Monuments they have added since we were there last. Their titles in order are: Creation of Man; Fall of Man; Cain Murders Abel; Punishment and Promise; Wickedness Fills the Earth; and Noah and the Ark.

This was truly a fun evening. Very laid back and enjoyable. 

Sunday, December 2nd was the 1st Presidency Christmas Devotional broadcast from Salt Lake City. I had already set out all the Christmas decorations in the upstairs and downstairs. I just needed to decorate the Christmas tree. I did this while we watched the Devotional. 

But before that, I took this picture of an Advent Tree given to me by Sandy Becker whom I worked for at CAPREIT when we lived in Maryland prior to moving to Kentucky. I sent her the picture and thanked her again for this lovely gift given many years ago and still enjoyed as part of our Christmas decorations.

Most of our ornaments are from places we have visited. It is great fun to remember all the fun we had on trips and visiting sites throughout our lives. This year I added the ornaments we collected on our Baltic cruise in May. At the top of the picture is rocking horse from Finland. Under the horse is a little man dressed in black from Tallinn, Estonia. To the right of that is a purple bell from St. Petersburg, Russia. On the left lower portion is a little doll with a red scarf and hat from Sweden. The red and white flag is from Copenhagen, Denmark. The only country we missed getting an ornament from was Germany. 

Christmas Date Part 2 was to Rupp Arena to see Trans Siberian Orchestra (TSO). Dinner before this event was Outback Steakhouse. Claude is a carnivore and enjoyed his beefy meal. I opted for Coconut Shrimp. We are such different people. Then it was off to Rupp Arena. The Trans Siberian Orchestra donated $1 of each ticket sold to a local organization. This year and last year they selected UK Children's Hospital. This year their donation was approaching $9,000. The beginning of the show is the most mellow as they tell the story of a young girl who ran away from home and finds refuge one night at Christmas time in an abandoned theater. She has dreams while sleeping that recall her past and she eventually leaves to go back home. We had good seats and enjoyed the experience. Here are a few pictures:

If you are prone to seizures or having any problems with lots of lights flashing, this is not the show for you to attend. They have lots of laser lights set to the music. They also have lots of fire displays that burst up every now and then. How they get the fire permits to do this I will never understand. This is truly a massive operation with the hiring of seven local orchestra musicians to add to their own stage musicians and 9-10 vocalists. I don't know how many are in the stage crew but it would be worth the wait just to watch them tear down the staging and pack it in the boxes so they can head to the next city.

Okay, time to rant. Maybe I shouldn't end on a rant but...it is my Blog and I do feel the rant coming on. We were in seats 4 and 5 of Row D. When the show started seats 6 and 7 were empty but seats 1-3 filled up just before the show started. Into the show, in come the people for seats 6 and 7. Every one of us in seats 1-5 had to stand to let them through to their seats. The female was saying "I'm sorry" to everyone as she tripped over our feet. They settled down with their alcoholic beverages and I thought that was that. Who knows why someone is late? Give them the benefit of the doubt. However, it was not just our row that was affected by this late entry. All the people who paid good money behind us were also affected. As the show progressed, they were feeling the effects of their alcoholic consumption. The lady again stood during the performance, not between numbers, and we all had to stand as she tramped over our feet again saying "I'm sorry" all the way across. Okay, I know when you gotta go, you gotta go. When she returned, again during a number, we all rose and she stepped over and on our feet to get back to her seat holding a really large cup of Coke. Goodness. Did she now learn? Does she not care about others? She had her little cup from their first entry and she picked it up and into it poured some of the big cup of Coke. Then she gave the rest of the big cup to her partner. I was appalled as he opened the side of his leather coat and took out a flask of whatever, whisky I guess but I don't know. He poured copious amounts into the Coke cup and gave it to her to pour some into her smaller cup. Amazing. Then he proceeds to hold his cup out in front of him during the performance. I was to his right and that big cup completely blocked the center of the stage. I was about to ask him to please at least keep the cup lowered when he lowered it for a bit. Then as I relaxed, he would raise the cup and I would try to decide if I should say something or not. This repeated until they finished the big and little cups of said beverage. Now the female was really loosened up. She was doing all the hand movements the females singers were doing which I'm sure delighted the people behind her as much as they did me from the side. She even leaned to the person to her left and started to explain things about the performance during the performance. Oh my goodness. At one point he was leaning in his seat with his entire shoulder over into my seat area and his right leg laying over her lap!! Before the show was over, they again both got up and tramped over everyone's feet causing all of us to have to stand as they noisily exited the arena with the obligatory "I'm sorry" sounding from her lips and hands waving. There...rant about the rude behavior is out there. I do not believe she was sorry for a moment. Her saying it just absolved her in her own mind from being rude. It really was a hollow gesture at best. If you are an adult...go to the bathroom before a show and be on time for the show. Don't bring anything into the show that you cannot hold in your body until the show is over or there is an intermission. These are not hard things to do. Very simple really. Then you and everyone around you can have the enjoyable experience they desired and paid dearly for. There...rant over.

Here is a little video clip to end the TSO performance on a lighter note. We really did enjoy ourselves.

Our final Christmas event for this post was the Polar Express in Sadieville. I missed last year because I was very sick. This year I was there both nights and totally enjoyed all those little children visiting with Santa, enjoying cookies and hot chocolate and getting to listen to the Polar Express being read in the Caboose right here in Sadieville. This year's Santa was the best ever. Very low key. Told the kids it was their choice if they wanted to sit on his knee or not. Learned that he had both knees replaced in the spring of this year so that might have helped. But it made it much nicer for kids who just wanted to stand by him or sit by him to talk with him. We took lots of family pictures this year which was very nice. Some come in pajamas and some kids come in Sunday best dress to get their Santa picture. I loved to watch the kids come who just run over and hug Santa from the get go as well as those who need to work up to visiting with Santa. One Lady has lived here in the United States for three years. She came from the Ukraine. This was her first time visiting with Santa and she was over the moon happy. She is the Lady in the silver coat. Santa gave 'hi 5's' to some and showed how his really cool watch worked to others. Here are some of my favorite pictures from Friday and Saturday evening.

When it was all over, Mary Lou from the Library came in Claude's office and told us she even had a phone call this year from Virginia. Someone heard about the Polar Express and was planning on coming to be a part of it. They had even made hotel reservations!! Mary Lou had to explain that the tickets were free but they were all gone. How interesting is that? 

That is our 'getting ready for Christmas' so far. We are on our way to a great Christmas.