Livie's Baachan Date

Josiah and Livie drove out to the valley today. While everyone visited...Livie and I headed out for her date with Baachan. Our mission was to find gifts for her to give Josiah and Carrie (and to enjoy some time together).  Liv's a pro and knew exactly what she wanted to find. 

She also knew exactly where she wanted to eat - McDonald's. We finished the shopping and headed for lunch. She wondered if we'd see Alex and Nolan. She was excited to spot Nolan. 

Arielle picked up the girls and they and Benny met us downtown to explore a bit of Colony Christmas Days.  We went to the train depot to see Santa and reindeer...and oodles of people getting some Christmas shopping done. 

It was at the train depot where Liv and I shared a bit of an adventure. The person on the driver's side parked so close to me there was NO WAY we could open my door. We opened the passenger side and she easily got in. I, however, had to climb over the center console to get to my seat....horns honked in the process, lots of shared laughter, but we made it out of the parking lot. 

We headed over to the Pioneer Home, passing the Wise Men as we drove down main street. The living nativity was a great feature of the festivities.  

Livie was excited to see the pony in the parking lot at the Pioneer Home. Inside the home were a ton of gingerbread homes. 

There are some great entrants in this year's contest. 

We said goodbye to the pony on our way out. Arielle and Benny continued on to a hayride. We were cold and called it a day. We had not worn our winter gear - short sighted, indeed. It was 9* when we got back to the car. 

We toyed with attending the evening parade but decided it would be best to stay home, by the fire. We are a bit behind on our advent scavenger hunt and so Michael and I hid a couple of gifts. 

Scavenger Hunt Clue: I rock but I don't roll. 

It was noted we have a lot of rocking chairs and recliners in the house. They made the rounds and didn't find the gift. I was afraid they were about to turn Grandpa out of his recliner. I was relieved when they went back and checked the nook again, instead of ousting GG. 

Reindeer headbands for all 

Millie isn't so impressed

We hid a second gift and I made up a clue - which I will not post here. I am banned from thinking up further clues as mine turned out to be a bit risqué. ::blush:: Not to worry, Livie found the gift! That's the point of the clue anyway. 

When purchasing gifts for the hunts I picked some that would be family gifts, some cheap, some more expensive and many that would be things we could do together. I knew Liv would enjoy this one and we had decided not to go back out....a good night to work this one into the mix. 

Stacia whipped up frosting while Allie and Liv shaped cookies. The downstairs oven didn't set off the alarm. 

Well done, girls! 

It was a great day spent with loved ones. Livie went home with wrapped gifts and memories of a day spent with family.