The Calm Before the Storm

We have had an extremely mild fall this year, even for the desert of Southern California, with temperatures remaining in the high 60's and low 70's for most of November and thus far even December. However, there is something in the forecast for tonight that does not occur very often here in Twentynine Palms; we might actually get snow. To be fair, even if it does snow I highly doubt it will be much. It definitely won't be cold enough to stick for very long. But in the 5+ years we have lived here, it has only snowed on us twice so if it does indeed snow, it would be a very big deal.

This tidbit of information is not even the real reason behind the title of my post however. You see, this last week has been pretty routine. Jake went to school, Jadyn went to her various activities, we took care to spend extra time wrapping gifts, decorating the house and sending off holiday cards because we knew how hectic things were about to get. Of course, I mean this in the best of ways because we enjoy all the holiday events, it just keeps us very, very busy.

It started on Friday when we went to The Living Desert for their annual Wild Lights display. This is our third year taking the kids and my pictorial of our visit last year was one of my first blog posts ever. You can read more about this unique holiday event in my post from last year here. Again, it is very hard to really capture the beauty of over 350,000 Christmas lights strewn throughout the zoo so you will have to trust me that it is quite a sight to behold.

The kids excited at the entrance:


Trying to capture the magic of the lights on film:

Jake and I being silly. Too bad his coat covered up his huge smirk:

Hanging out in the wagon:

On Saturday morning, we hurriedly bundled up once again, this time to attend the Snow Play Day in the neighboring town of Yucca Valley. Since we do so rarely have snow to play in, the town hauls over 21 tons of snow to its community center so the kids can go sledding and throw a few snowballs. Last year, we had Jake and Jadyn go down the sled together but this year they requested Daddy send them down the slope separately. What Daddy didn't know was that he chosen a lane where they had created a jump, mostly intended to increase the excitement for the older kids. While Jake didn't seem to mind, by the time Jadyn got to the bottom of the hill, she was scared and crying and needless to say, did not go down the slope again that day. I was just thankful she didn't go flying off the sled as she caught air going over the jump. It was pretty funny.

Saturday night Joe was nice enough to let me have a night with the girls so we could eat yummy take-out, exchange Christmas gifts and talk into the wee hours of the night. It was a much needed break from mommy duties given that Joe left for a week long business trip in South Carolina this morning. While he is gone, we have 3 Christmas parties to attend and the kids' first ever dentist appointment. The day after he returns, my Mom and her husband George will be coming for their annual winter visit and before you know it, Christmas will be upon us and that dear folks is what I meant by the calm before the storm. Because even though we are looking forward to all the festivities and visiting with family, we will be going nonstop from now until at least the 26th. I simply cannot wait to be in the middle of the storm.