To say that this year has been a year of adaptation, change, and unexpected happenings is truly an understatement. There have been SO many things this year that have been unlike any other year in my lifetime, and some of it has been kind of hard to swallow.
Obviously, when I say that, I'm referring to the bigger happenings of 2020 . . . things like school closing for the remainder of the school year, quarantining at home for weeks, and Chris working from home for over two months. While those things were certainly difficult, many little things have changed as well . . . little things that are part of our family traditions . . . little things that bring us joy . . . little things that have been hard to let go.
With that said, I didn't really have high hopes for our December and holiday celebrations with the way our year had gone. I knew that we were hoping to be on vacation in Florida through the first week of December, but after that I just didn't know how many of our traditional outings we would be able to keep. Sadly, I was right to expect that some things would be canceled. Our annual Christmas luncheon and gift exchange with our church family was canceled this year. Our town's annual Christmas parade didn't happen. Even the ways we could see Santa this year were altered, leading us to skip that tradition.
However, when I found out the Tulsa Botanical Garden of Lights was still going to be available this season (with a few modifications), I was so excited. This is an event that we have thoroughly enjoyed the last few years, and I wanted to be able to keep that tradition alive.
We purchased tickets to attend the Botanical Garden of Lights event on Friday, December 18th. The S family and the E family also purchased tickets for that evening, and we all agreed to meet at the S family's house for dinner beforehand. When we purchased our tickets, we had to select a time window in which we would arrive at the gardens (to help stagger visitors). On our way to the S family's house, we got stuck in serious traffic (which is rare) and were over 20 minutes late! This meant we had to rush through dinner in order to make it to the gardens within our window. Thankfully, we made it!
As usual, the lights and atmosphere didn't disappoint!
We all had to mask up while on the grounds, but the chilly air made the masks much less annoying than when we were in Florida. I still don't love photos with everyone masked up, though.
Brecklyn, Sadie, Brooke, Brenson, Chloe, Brianna, and Caroline
Love my fam!
Tia, Chelley, and Lisa
Caroline and Brianna love each other so much!
💜Besties💜
So beautiful and peaceful!
Love my boy!
The crew minus Tia . . . can you see Ross?!?
Momma and Brianna
Brooke and Momma
In the past, we've kind of avoided the fire pits, but this year we decided to take advantage of them. We even bought marshmallows to roast and it was really fun having a yummy and warm treat.
My kiddos are marshmallow roasting pros :-).
While some of us enjoyed the fire, the bigger kids chased each other through the hay bale maze. Then, the younger kids went to ride the train.
It was definitely a lovely evening to be outside enjoying the lights and each other. Even though there were a few changes, I'm still so thankful we were able to keep this tradition this year!
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