Surf City Lighting of the Christmas Tree 11-20-10

On Saturday November 10th, Surf City lit up the Christmas tree and other holiday lights at Soundside Park. They had hot chocolate and coffee for the guests, as well as singing and a band. The decorations was gorgeous, and we saw several of our neighbors and friends out at the lighting ceremony.

We of course took advantage of this event and got some photos, which are Easton's FIRST pictures with a Christmas tree! Easton just gazed at the lights in awe, it was actually impossible to get him to smile for pictures because he was staring so much! Below are a few of the photos we managed to capture:

Easton & Jason in front of the Surf City Christmas Tree

Our attempt at a family pic - we couldn't get Easton to stop looking at the tree so I had to hold his head! :-)

Checking out the pretty lights


Easton with his friends, Ruthie and Canaan

His cute Snowman shoes :-)

As a side note - I am OFFICIALLY excited about Christmas .... I do not recall being this excited for many, many years. I've always loved the holidays, but there is something about having a child that re-energizes that "Christmas spirit" .... I just cannot wait to see Easton experience all of the holiday traditions of seeing lights, unwrapping presents, trying holiday foods and of course "telling" Santa what he wants for Christmas.

I also hope we instill a sense of giving & sharing into Easton. We plan to do that by continuing to give to the local shelter, adopting a child from the Angel Tree and showing Easton that it is just as much fun to give as it is to receive. Obviously he's too young to understand this now, but by seeing his parents live this way, our actions should "rub off on him." And one day (that will be here all to soon) he'll be able to participate and experience how it feels to be generous and giving firsthand. At least that is my hope ... we'll see how that works out because he's not so good at sharing yet, just ask his playgroup friends :-)

But most importantly, I want Easton to feel the love and comfort that I vividly recall from growing up, especially during the holidays. I have very fond memories of spending time with family, waking up with my brothers on Christmas morning and racing to the tree to see what "Santa brought us" .... my parents had three kids to buy for, but they always managed to get us what we wanted. I also recall fun traditions that my Mom started, such as having us go on a scavenger hunt to find our gifts and giving us presents Dec 15th through Dec 24th in instead of getting a stocking. The house always smelled of yummy food and we spent time together eating, watching movies, visiting our grandparents and playing with the fun things that we got for Christmas. I hope Easton will look back on the holidays with these same fond memories of his family and the times spent together.....because there is no better gift than being with those that you love!