candlelight christmas

each christmas season we go to 'candlelight christmas' at this is the place monument with my family. we went just a couple days before christmas this year. it was a snowy night...but was actually really fun. the snow set the wintery mood :).

here's all of us with 'father christmas' {everything is like old times there}...they normally have him in a barn with his reindeer and everything but since it was snowing so hard the train wasn't working {it takes you down to the barn} so they brought him up into one of the buildings...

all the historic buildings have activities/and or shows inside...

warming up by the fire...

ben & i in front of the cafe...

the live nativity... the puppet show...

gavin watching the puppet show :)...our little fam...

afterwards we went to my grandparents house for hot chocolate and....peppermint sticks in lemons! ben and i have started a holiday tradition of eating peppermint sticks {has to be the sugary kind} and lemons. if you haven't tried it, it's so yummy! all you do is insert a pepermint stick into a lemon and suck...after sucking for a bit the lemon juice comes up through the peppermint stick in tiny holes, making it into a straw. i promise i'm not crazy, it really is so good. we make them around the fourth of july too :). it's a fun holiday tradition...