Merry Christmas 2016 from the Gichards!

Merry Christmas 2016 from the Gichards! We had a very memorable year with some traveling to California for a wedding, and a side-trip to Disneyland in October; hiked around Alaska (including trips to Byron Glacier in May and Eklutna Lake in July), and Andrew harvested his first caribou in October! We are so blessed with wonderful family, friends, and church to be with us in the good times and bad.

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and wonderful new year!

Clockwise, starting top right: hiking at Byron Glacier, hiking at Eklutna Lake, on the beaches of Southern California, hanging out with Minnie Mouse, and Andrew and his first caribou

Remembering Gobbo Christmases

One of my favorite memories of Christmases past is spending them at my grandparents house in New York.

The beginning of such memories always began with one of my favorite pasttimes - the road trip there. Said road trip always culminated with turning the corner into my grandparents neighborhood. You knew you were getting close when we passed the neighbor electrician's house and his National Lampoon-style Christmas light display. I often remember dozing in the car and the brightness of the lights waking me up!

Depending on the year and who else was staying at the house I would occasionally sleep in one of the upstairs bedrooms, and sometimes in the downstairs room that led up to the kitchen. I remember waking up to the sounds of everyone having breakfast in the kitchen through the slatted doors. For Christmas trips we never slept in the back rec room that were our most slept-in sleeping quarters, since that was where the Christmas tree was and were Santa Claus left the presents. Which reminds me of the year they agreed to leave a video camera in the rec room to catch Santa - the next morning we discovered that it had been set up next to his plate of cookies and we got to see his arm reach in for his cookies in his red suit.

Christmas Eve day was always a great day of hanging out with the grandparents and often watching old Christmas movies on TV (while Dad and Grandpa watched various sporting events in the living room). In the evening, we'd get dressed up and head to mass at their local church. One thing that stands out is trying to find a parking space since the church is in the center of the town - and that part of town had cobbled streets (not sure if it still does). This sticks in my head, because at this age I was a tomboy and was usually wearing small-heeled shoes which were already a challenge for me to walk in, let alone on cobbles. Additionally, going to New York this time of year often meant ice, and even snow - which was odd for us since we lived in North Carolina and Virginia during my youth. This was often a time of year we would get to build actually snowmen and play in the snow - and for Christmas to boot! On the way to Christmas Eve mass we would discuss whether or not the local priest would be giving the homily or if it was a visiting priest - as the New Yorkers often talked faster making for a shorter mass :) Once we got back to the house my dad continued our annual tradition of reading Twas the Night Before Christmas to us. I remember one year it got a bit out of hand in altering the original words and Mom had to come in to get us to quiet down (Dad was definitely the instigator, and this added to the tradition each year of making up the best new words).

Christmas morning was of course fantastic. Grandma always gave the best boxed presents that matched a theme of whatever we were into that year. Grandma's dinner were always fantastic - regardless of it being a holiday. Often the day after Christmas we would go to another relative's house, they would come to us, and one year we even went into New York City!  I remember after big family dinners all the cousins and aunts and grandma would gather at the dining room table and play Michigan Rummy.

Other random memories from Christmas was working on puzzles (always at Grandma's!), their silver (or white) fake Christmas tree, and enjoying their fireplace (seeing as how we did not have one in our house until we moved to Alaska). Growing up moving around so much, their home always felt like home even when new locations did not.

Christmas to me, is my grandparents.

We went to Disneyland!

On a recent trip to southern California, we made a side one-day trip to Disneyland! We woke up bright and early for the two hour drive north to Anaheim.

First stop, the Jungle Cruise!

Then, onto the Pirates of the Caribbean!

The Haunted Mansion was all decked out for October!

Then we ventured on to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad!

The park also had a fantastic Dia de los Muertos display.

We saw Woody in Frontierland! Princess Tiana also walked right past us as we were taking a water break, so I didn't get a picture. She greeted us with a "Good Morning Y'all" as she walked past!

As we ventured into Tomorrowland, I was impressed with how everything fit the theme of each "land".

While in Tomorrowland, we got out Fast Passes to Space Mountain, and took a much needed pretzel break in the shade while we people-watched.

Then we ventured into Fantasyland and rode It's a Small World. It was the longest line we had to stand in all day, at only 15 minutes (although it felt longer in the hot sun - it was in the mid 80s all day)!

As we ventured through Fantasyland, we took the tour of Sleeping Beauty's Castle.

As we left the castle, we saw Gepeto!

After Fantasyland, we discovered that Space Mountain ended up closing for the day, so we headed back to Main Street for lunch at the Jolly Holiday Bakery.

Our Fast Passes we never got to use for Space Mountain 

After lunch we checked out the shops on Main Street and discovered many characters hanging out in the main square: Cruella, Pluto, Goofy, Minnie, and Mickey!

The whole park was decked out for Halloweentime!

Hanging out with Minnie!

Mickey and Pluto playing around before they headed out for their water break. 

Andrew, Walt, and Mickey

After some time checking out a lot of the iconic spots in the main part of the park, we headed back to It's a Small World for a great spot to watch the parade - except one thing: THE song was playing the entire hour we waited for the parade...

The parade was fantastic - it was Mickey's Soundsational Parade.

Mickey!

Aladdin

Two of the Three Caballeros

The Third Caballero, my favorite - Donald!

Its time for the princesses!

Mary Poppins and Bert!

After the parade we checked out the Enchanted Tiki Room to sit down in the shade for awhile.

My favorite song as a kid

Last, we rode the Matterhorn - Andrew even got to sit in the front!

Finally, we walked around Main Street a bit more and got our "ears".

As we were walking out from Mad Hatter on Main Street we caught the Disneyland Band performing in the square. It was a great way to end the day in the park!

After we left the park, we headed to Downtown Disney to have dinner at the Jazz Kitchen Express. We each had po'boys, with beignets for dessert (my first beignets)!

 It was a fantastic (and hot) day in the Happiest Place on Earth (we are already trying to figure out when to go back)!

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