Christmas Eve Re-cap

Christmas Eve was quite the night for us! After the 5pm candlelight service at church we said our goodbyes and "Merry Christmases" to friends and headed back home to layer on the clothing! Why? Well we were about to enter a giant dome with a 9* temperature. Followed by walking around outside in 17* weather with a 11* wind chill.

Once again, we decided to attend the ICE! event, we liked it so much last year that we couldn't think of an excuse as to why we shouldn't go again, especially since we won't be here next year! The prices went up, understandably considering what a hit the event became, we were amazed we got tickets for Christmas Eve, thankfully we got a military discount! This year's theme was "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" so the night before we went we watched the Jim Carey version.

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After our trip to the ICE! event, we drove into downtown DC because I wanted to see the Christmas trees... sadly we forgot to swing by the Capitol, but the National Tree was beautiful in it's own way. Around the tree is what is known as "The Pathway to Peace" where each US state/territory is represented by a small tree, the ornaments are created by school children. We both found our trees (AZ/OH), Quinn's tree happened to have a great view of the White House.

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We absolutely love the fact that both public events featured a nativity scene!! Keeping Christ in Christmas =) While neither of us would choose to live in Maryland, we both feel blessed to have been able to see all the things we have during our time here.