There are no seven wonders of the world in the eyes of a child. There are seven million.

I just love this time of year. I love the lights, the smells, the music. Even among all of the hustle and bustle, the long lists of things to do, the draining of my bank account...can't forget that, I am still left with a gratedful heart this time of year. Maybe that is because of the miracle this holiday represents. The humble birth of our precious Savior. I am reminded of a book I read a couple of years ago. I found it in a box, I believe it belonged to my dear Aunt Beverly...who always made Christmas extra special, I will never forget. The book is called "Two From Galilee-The Story of Mary and Joseph." 'This is the story of two real people whose lives were touched by God: two people chosen by God to provide and earthly home for His Son.' I think I might pull this book out and read it again this season.

So to kick off the season I loaded my clan and took them uptown to see the Santa Claus parade. This happened a couple of weeks ago but posting it now is better than never, right? One thing that I have noticed as I've loaded pictures for my blog is that as the designated camera woman there are rarely any pictures of me so I'm making a mental note to get Robbie to take the reigns once in a while.

I can't help but shed a tear whenever I stand to salute a flag. Ball games, parades, or at school. I tear up every time. I am just incredibly grateful to live in this country and I am so proud to be an American.

The streets were almost bare for the parade but that allowed us to get some personal attention from good old St. Nick. Lucky us, Mrs. Claus was there too.

What a great Santa he was too. Real beard and everything. When we got home there was another Santa standing across the street waving at cars, he wasn't nearly as believable. Canyon was a bit confused, we had just seen Santa, so I told him it was an imposter.