I love a parade--the Christmas version

We have a tradition that spans back a few years of participating in the Parade of Lights with our buddies who own a local tractor & yard equipment sales business. It is one of the highlights of our fall, and we all look forward to it with great anticipation. It is the start of the Christmas season for us. A mile marker to our fall turning to winter. A great, fun, bonding time with these beautiful friends we have here. And it's just plain fun.

But this year, I have a sinus/ear infection of historic proportions, and I know there's no way I can march in our new-this-year Power Equipment Drill Team. I am severely bummed. P is driving the tractor this year, O is a sign-barer, and I really, really, really want to march and chant and twirl with my chainsaw. What more could a parade-loving girl ask for?? But alas, I am drawn to the couch by a force more powerful than my love of parades. Eventually, my sweet husband gives me a little nudge, reminding me that this is one of my favorite things in the whole wide world, and maybe I could just come watch...

So I arrange to meet up with the Hursts to do just that, and it is so beautiful... standing with great friends, watching people who I love have an absolute ball, strolling around the square with their tractors and chainsaws and leaf blowers and snow blowers, dancing and marching and singing. It was pure JOY!!

In the process, I learned that it is difficult to take pictures of a fast-moving parade in the dark, but Jill helped me out, and we got a few decent shots. Next year, we're planning to add a Scooter Gang to the line-up, and I am so there!

Hope, in tents and otherwise

Hope has been all around us lately. It hit a zenith at about 11:01 pm on November 4th, and we're still riding that wave. As my dear friend Jill said, "Hope.... now I have some!" And I believe the text from Patty was, "Wooooooooo Hooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!" So, that about sums it up!!

Then last weekend we delivered our church's Tent of Hope to the National Mall where we set it up with other tents from all over the country. And I gotta say, it's easy to be hopeful when it's 75 and sunny in November! As always, DC brings out the presidential hopes of a certain eight year old boy, and with the excitement over the recent election this was no exception. So there were a lot of "When I'm President..." declarations while we strolled the city. In addition to the Tents of Hope festivities, on this trip we... took in the Pompeii exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, toured the Captial Building (so cool), picked John Jay's nose in the Supreme Court (family tradition), marveled at the Jefferson Memorial, browsed Thomas Jefferson's book collection at the Library of Congress, picniced on the mall, walked the dog, pushed Sophie's stroller all over Pennsylvania Avenue, hung out with our awesome brothers and their fabulous wives, ate too much, slept too little, played Wii, played with Sophie, and had yet another awesome DC weekend. It never disappoints!!

Oh, and we took 587 pictures. Gotta love digital! So P put together a video story with pics from the Gathering of the Tents. Turn up your volume and enjoy!