Since we moved to Arizona over a
year ago I've had a difficult time capturing the "feeling" of
Christmas out here in the desert. I was
born and raised in Wisconsin and the memories of my Christmas's there include snow, cold temperatures, the family car getting stuck in the snow after
visiting Grandma and Grandpa Christmas Eve, building snow forts, sledding down the hill we lived at the top of and filling the
freezer with snowballs for a fight with the neighborhood kids. Don't get me wrong—Christmas in the desert is
unique and beautiful in its own way, but I miss the cold and snow—just around
the holiday.
So I've started a new Christmas
tradition since moving to Arizona. Each
Christmas Eve we head to the Phoenix Zoo—voted one of the top 5 zoos in the
nation for children—and spend a couple of hours walking around drinking hot
chocolate and eating roasted nuts while taking in Zoolights. It's an amazing and beautiful display of
lights and decorations in a desert setting.
The zoo is transformed into a little magical Christmas village with millions
of colored lights and a now- famous Music in Motion light display—twenty-six trees
that dance to music around a lake.
Here's a youtube video of last
years' Zoolights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B82MssZYuco
So tell me...what family Christmas
traditions do you look forward to every year?
Marin Thomas
Beau: Cowboy Protector *Harts of the Rodeo* Nov 2012
No Ordinary Cowboy *Rodeo Rebels* April 2013
The Cowboy Next Door *The Cash Brothers* July 2013