Pre Christmas Delights

There are a few people in this world that I truly, madly, deeply admire. So, imagine my delight and surprise upon the discovery that such a person would be paying a visit during the most wonderful time of the year. Visions of laughing and gabbing danced in my head for weeks beforehand.

Such visions and wishes came to fruition with the arrival of my mother. For 9 days we laughed and talked and played games and watched Christmas movies and relaxed and avoided the societal imposed pressure of the season. It was in a word...perfect. Perfectly joyous.

We Christmas Caroled or way into the season at the Hale Center Theater. It was a fabulous musical rendition of one of my favorite Christmas stories. The camera was forgotten in our excitement and haste thus requiring the use of the device on my phone imitating a camera. What a poser. But, I was thankful to capture a few blurry snapshots to record the memory.

We returned to the theater to take advantage of the Christmas decor.

I had a lovely day of Christmas shopping and burger devouring with two of my favorite women. Again, the camera was forgotten so the snapshot was a follow up to the activities of the day. Good times were had by all and though we all enjoyed strolling around in the 75 degree sunshine, I think my mother was the most enthused with the warmth. And, considering she came from sub freezing rainy weather, who can blame her?!

The proud owners of a perfectly elegant little Christmas tree!

I love Christmas lights! And, according to the advent calendar Matt's mom sent us, "Lights signify hope, happiness, and safety. They represent the fact that Jesus is the Light of the World. When we see Christmas lights on buildings and Christmas trees, and lit candles, we're reminded of Jesus the Light of the World." After attaining that little nugget of knowledge, I love Christmas lights even more. We sojourned to the Mesa Temple and were serenaded with the sounds of Christmas by a wonderful a capella group, after which we meandered our way along the lighted paths oohing and ahhing in reverence with nearly every step. What a wonderful reminder of the reason for the season!

Our morning of orange picking reiterated the beautifulness that is Arizona winter time. My mom crammed as many of the little delights as possible into her carry on bag, secretly hoping the Arizona sunshine would be smushed in there with them. Thanks Jaime!

Many a game of Would You Rather and Bocce Ball were played and as a result many calories were burned from the ensuing laughter! PS I think even Matt was surprised at how sexy I looked with a 'stache and chops!

And now, for your viewing pleasure, an example of the prevalent hilarity resulting from a spontaneous game of Would You Rather.

Yep, a perfectly joyous visit filled with Christmas season delights. Thanks for coming Mom!