~ Garden d'Lights ~

There's a lot going on this month! I somehow forget, every year, how busy December really is. I remember the year Kara was born - she got a horrible virus when she was only 10 weeks old and it quickly turned into something potentially dangerous. The Doctor told us to keep her away from outside people, to have her mostly in our room, with tented sheets around her bassinet and a humidifier to create an atmosphere that would be best for her lungs to heal and to avoid getting pneumonia. I remember how slow that month of December went by. I wasn't able to go with Jason and the kids to get a tree or anything. Felt like it was never going to end. And yet, when I look back on that month, I'm now wishing I had enjoyed it more than I did. I did lots of baking, lots of reading, lots of just being around the house, enjoying the cold weather and my family. And best of all, December felt nice and long, instead of... "that thing I saw as I blinked." ;-) 
Even so, we're really enjoying all the festivities around us! Especially with the kids a year older, its been so fun to experience most of this stuff for the first time, for all of us. I guess that's one of the perks to moving someplace new; there's a point at which everything is a first for everyone in the family. 


Goodness, that was a long intro into this post. 

Jason has been planning family outings for us for the month of December, 

of things to do in or around our town. 

We've had a blast seeing the holiday sights and especially the light festivals. Very fun! 

We went into Bellevue for the Garden d'Lights display and had such a great time! 

We bundled the kids up, brought along some hot chocolate in our travel coffee cups, 

and ventured out. 

Its so hard to show the beauty of these lights through pictures, but we did our best. 

The lights display is held every year at the Bellevue Botanical Gardens.

the kids loved this giant bunny rabbit! 

Kara wanted to sit all night and say hi to Mr. Rabbit. 

as you can see, Kara enjoys her hot chocolate :) 

grape vines! 

this tree was made 100% out of lights! 

I laughed so hard when I saw Kara in this picture. 

Like I said, she likes her hot chocolate. 

Mr. Parrot in his tree 

I do not like having pictures taken of just me. At all. I always feel awkward and so I
tend to think I look super awkward. But, my husband likes taking them.
He enjoys putting them in his office at work. And the kids like it.
So I have a hard time saying no.
Jason does a good job of getting a real smile out of me.
I especially like the glowing lights in the background of this one!

inside they had hot drinks and the bathrooms :) 

We took a potty break and then looked at the aquarium light display! 

They had it decorated with the fish from Finding Nemo. 

this was a stream of lights, with fish {made out of lights} 

looking like they're jumping up stream. 
Super cute and major kudos to the designer.