Favorite Weekend of the Year

The first weekend in December is my favorite weekend of the year! It is the kickoff to the Christmas season in the little town of Siloam Springs. I am involved in a mom's group called Mothering Matters and we have our annual fundraiser, the first Friday in December. We put on a Christmas tour of homes and I have always enjoyed this event. We select about five local homes that get decorated for Christmas and allow the town to tour each home for a small fee. This one event raises enough money to cover the annual childcare cost of Mothering Matters. I usually have to work the second half of the night, so Taylor rushes home from work on Friday so we have enough time to walk through each home. I love taking pictures of the decorations and getting fun Christmas ideas.

Saturday morning, the Heritage League, host a breakfast with Santa. Families gather at our community building and eat breakfast, take pictures with Santa, and do fun Christmas crafts. We missed the breakfast this year because Taylor wanted to take me to Tulsa to pick out my Christmas present from a jewelry store. This was a much better way to spend a Saturday morning, and I was thrilled! I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful and sweet husband.

Then finally on Saturday night, the entire town gathers for the annual Christmas parade. The night begins with the high school choir singing Christmas carols, the mayor prays over our town, and then there is a countdown and all of the Christmas lights turn on for the first time. It feels magical! The parade is a typical small town parade with homemade floats and local marching bands. We bundled up this year and enjoyed the parade with good friends, while drinking hot chocolate.

Shepherd and Taylor bundled up for the parade

Here is a picture of downtown right when the lights came on.
It is hard to see in the picture.

A cold baby!

Family picture at the parade