December 11, 2006 by Amy

Post Party Post

Last night was the Grand Lighting. I should say it was THE Grand Lighting. I have been telling everyone that M outdid himself this year, and finally they all got to see what I meant. The only way to do it justice is to not try to describe it with the written word, but rather borrow a digital camcorder from someone, shoot it, and figure out how to post a video here.

He really did take the display boldly where it has not been before.

We think (hope) everyone had a good time. I know I did.

Oh! And the colossal task I was worried about forgetting? Yeah, we left the cheesecake squares in the fridge the entire night. Hey, if that’s the extent of my party fouls, then I think we did pretty damn good.

Special thanks to the Illinois delegation for crossing state lines to come view the show. Can we officially say we’ve become multi-state now?! Oh yeah, and a GIANT thank you to Garrin for making me a CD with the 2006 Cardinals at-bat songs. That’s right, people, not only do I have the list now, I also have the actual music! I was so excited I did the Happy Dance right there. And then a few more times throughout the night.

Oh, and ya’all should see the image Uncle Jim made for us. He did his Photoshop magic again, and put Zozo’s head on the body of a babe surrounded by angels. It’s fantastic, and as soon as he sends me a digital copy I’ll post it here.

Thanks also to Mama for the snowfamily (three adorable snowpeople, to be politically correct I cannot type “snowman,” one for each of us, complete with Mama-made labels with our names), to Mom and Dad Z for the zucchini bread (it was fantastic for breakfast this morning), and to Mr. and Mrs. P for the personalized Christmas tree for me and M, and the fun books for Zozo (she hit the nail on the head with the books…one of them combines a book and music: two of Zozo’s favorite things).

We had a very special guest last night, as well. Santa Claus stopped by to say hi to everyone! We think he must have seen the display go live and thought he’d pop in for a visit. Santa Claus happens to be a personal friend of my dad’s, so it was cool that they got to see each other, too. Let me just say that I had no idea Dad knew Santa so well when I was younger, or I’d have campaigned for even more presents. Thank you to Santa and Dad for the surprise.

M gave props to Dad Z and Steve last night during the display, but I need to give my own here. Both of you have no idea what your help means to us. When M says that without your help he couldn’t have gotten it done, that’s literal. We’d have had to plan the Grand Lighting for January 13, 2007 if it weren’t for you. We appreciate you both so very much, even if Steve walked around booming, “LIGHT-O-RAMA” in his announcer voice for an entire day…

So, that’s about it. The Display is officially on for the season, so if you haven’t seen it yet come on by. You might want to give us a call before you come, though, as there are some special treats that M can set up for you.

Oh yeah, one last thing. Tonight, after we got home from Beano’s birthday dinner and put Zozo to bed, we were hanging out in the family room just watching the lights change and the cars slow down when the unthinkable happened. A tour bus (yes, a BUS) slowly crawled by the front of the house, its windows full of Christmas light viewers. How cool is that?!