Kick Off to Christmas

Tonight might be one of my favorite nights of the entire year. It is the Dasher family annual kick off to the holiday season--the Festival of Lights Walk. The James Island county park is within biking distance from our house and every year they have a Festival of Lights. It is a two mile tour of thousands of lights, along with activities for the kids, a marshmallow roasting pit--you get the idea. They have one night of the year when you can walk through it (versus ride) and tonight was it.

I start looking forward to this night sometime in September every year. Now keep in mind, this is not your regular run--tonight two miler took us a whopping hour and a half. All of our friends attend with their kids and it's amazing that we haven't lost one yet. This was Loulie's second year participating and you would have thought it was her tenth. She stayed in her stroller for about 5 seconds and then insisted on walking herself the majority of the way. She did catch up with her buddy, Wesley for a minute but after a few love pats, she became disinterested and went back to walking with the big kids. You would think that walking at least a mile would wear a one year old out--not Loulie. We stayed afterwards to checkout the scene, get some Christmas candy and listen to some music. We finally had to drag her out of there promising we would bring her back in December.

Starting Line--everyone still has some pep in their step

First light display and....Loulie is off...

Baby Perrin--isn't she delicious?

It was a fu night and I am absolutely exhausted. We are leaving for Georgia in the morning and I haven't started packing yet. We're heading over to spend some time with my college friends and their families. It will be the first time we have gotten all of our kids together.

Also, thank you to all the men and women who either are serving or have served in our military and to their families. It is a great sacrifice that you have made so that we can enjoy the many pleasures of our freedom. I pray for all of you that are away from your families so that I can safely raise mine!