The hubbs and I have various traditions when it comes to our own tiny family Christmas. We usually paint a ceramic together. Watch Home Alone 1 & 2 (we need to get on this), decorate our apartment together, and bake Christmas cookies while listening to music. We also love to go to Disneyland for the holidays. Out of all the places in the world....Disney does it right. The decorations and atmosphere really put you in the mood. So the first weekend in December we and our annual passes made the trek to Anaheim. When we got there we saw that we came on the weekend that they were doing the Candlelight Performance. This is where a person reads the scriptures of the first Christmas and choir members sing caroles. This year it was read by Gary Sinise, one of my favorite actors. I told the hubbs that if we didn't do anything else that day I wanted to watch that.
It wasn't a very crazy day that day, but we decided that we didn't want it to be a traditional Mickey day. We wanted to do things that we normally don't do, including some of the rides. We went into Innovations, and on Autopia....a ride I haven't been on in 10 years. We watched the portion of the Christmas Fantasy parade that was my float, and I sung and danced a little choreography while in line for AstroBlasters. We even went on the Ferris Wheel inside California Adventures (for me that was a big deal!) We met a very nice family from Australia and spoke with them about the differences between here and there. We even got a chance to see my cousin, her husband and son too. They were going to the park the next day so they were staying at a nearby hotel for the evening.
At 4:00 we went back inside to claim our spots for the Candlelight. We were in the perfect spot for the flag retiring ceremony; we all stood and sang the National Anthem. Watched the lighting of the Christmas tree too. I stood and talked with a girl that worked in the parades too. We joked about all the fun things that we did. Once the ceremony started hundreds of choir members took their place in front of the train station on Main Street. The singing and scripture was so beautiful that it brought me to tears. When they had us join in singing Silent Night, I felt truly honored to be apart of it, with all the people that were watching and singing along. This is the spirit of Christmas. To be joined in unison, whether in song or otherwise and remembering who have come before us and what will come in the future. I was truly moved.
Afterward we ate dinner and walked over to where Santa's Reindeer were taking a break from flying practice. Went on a couple of more rides, then went and got some hot chocolate/coffee and picked out our places on Main Street for fireworks. We snuggled together to keep warm, and played Eye Spy with a little girl who was there with her father for the day. It just helped me see into the future of what a good father my hubbs is going to be. We watched the fireworks and listened to the music and when it started to snow (although I know that its soap) you couldn't help but look up in wonderment and feel that giddy kid feeling inside that this time of year brings. It was a wonderful day and helped us to get into the holiday spirit.
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| New shades! |
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| Flag Retiring Ceremony |
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| Flag Retiring Ceremony |
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| Tree lighting and hundreds of people |
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| The choir |
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