Lisa Saves The Day

Last Thursday I told you about the holiday parade in November where we were the Grand Prize winners. My lovely Lisa sent these pictures to add to my collection. Man, she had some great shots in there that really point out what I was talking about or show something I missed. I just had to do a second posting. The world needs to see Marcos in this "cowboy" hat--it just does! What a great look! Now you can see the glowing nostrils I mentioned. Use your imagination, it's a horse!
If only there was a picture of Max squinting to see through the eyeballs Carla drew on the windshield.

Just look at the lights wrapped around the fence. What about the amazing rope detail? Talk about your authentic western floats! This picture was taken right before the parade got started when I was actively fretting that at least one child was going to fly over the edge. Can you see Mrs. Lindsey still working on the sign? What a woman!
The fringe was spectacular! The red you see around the top of the fringe--horseshoes! Our float crew didn't leave out a thing.
Cute little buckaroo, Coulter! He had no comment. You don't have to talk when you look that good.
This was our spirit squad. I think they might have pushed us over the edge in the victory department. They sang their little hearts out! Oooh, perfect view of the bandanna made out of butcher paper. That was one of my very favorite details on the float. McKay and Shelby borrowed Max's handkerchief to paint this masterpiece. Note: I always thought "bandanna" was spelled "bandana." Guess I'm getting confused with banana, huh? It turns out I'm not too old to learn new things.
Cowboy Max and Fireman Barnsie at your service.

Miki is one of the friendliest people you'll ever meet! There are no strangers as far as she's concerned. She's also as cute as she is sweet! I threw this picture in not only because Coulter and Marcos look happy and festive, but to point out the barn door. It was an afterthought--a piece of wood put up to mount the spot light to illuminate the children on the floats. Bailey and Mason thought, "Hey. Let's turn it into a barn door." Great, just great! It was another one of my very favorite details. I loved Cambria in her pink cowgirl hat. What a doll! She has such a sense of style!

OK. I think I now have the float out of my system. Lisa, thanks a ton for sharing the fun. (Poet and didn't know it!)

Good night.

Thankful Thursday--Float Edition

It takes a lot of work to build a holiday float.

It takes many creative and talented people to bring a woman's vision to fruition.

We were encouraged to enter the city of Rio Rancho's annual holiday parade. Max and I laughed at the idea. Us? Build a float? Ha!

Sometimes in life, it's not important to have a skill, but rather to know someone who does. We are blessed to have a dear friend, and a former preschool teacher of three of our children, who is a master butcher paper and cardboard magician. The lady is amazing! She transforms her preschool into a new world every month! If they're studying farms, she builds a barn. If they are studying the earth, she throws up a volcano. Kings and queens? Expect a castle with a bridge and moat. Now don't imagine anything small and dinky. These creations are impressive, and time consuming, and amazing. The children get in these creations and experience them. The volcano had a ladder in the center where the children would go up and throw lava balls out the top. From the castle, they would lift the draw bridge with a rope. Mrs. Lindsey pours she heart, soul, and creativity into everything she does.

Max and I are no idiots. We knew just who to ask to create our float. There's something else you should know about Mrs. Lindsey--she is giving and kind and fun. Of course she couldn't turn us down. Of course she would create the cutest float Rio Rancho had ever seen.



This is Barbara working on the sign for the float up until the last possible moment. Her life is always consumed with something. It turns out that her endless talents are not a secret only we know. She had so little time to pull our crew together.

Speaking of our crew--WOW! We are so blessed to have family and friends that do so much for us. "Hey guys. Do you want to spend your whole Saturday building a float for the parade?" They didn't hesitate. Roy and Beth opened up their home for a yummy brunch and work place. Thanks, guys! You're the best!

It was actually a whole lot of fun putting this crazy thing together. I'm not going to put captions under every picture. I think you can see how wonderful our friends are.
Thank you so much to all who participated in the float. We thank those who actually built the float over the two Saturdays in November, as well as those who allowed their adorable children to ride in the parade. The pictures do not do it justice. All the kids had Christmas lights on their hats that blinked and big smiles on their faces. (Beth--thanks for buying ALL those lights and bandannas! Very generous of you.) They were so cute throwing candy and yelling Merry Christmas to the spectators.

You could definitely tell it was our first time participating in the parade. Our candy ran out after a couple blocks. Who knew so many people came out to watch?

Yes, Max drove the truck like that. What a safe way to transport a truck full of children. Keep in mind he drove very slowly. See the horse's nostrils? They looked so cool at night with the light shining. Glow in the dark nostrils are the best! We were definitely a favorite with the little kids. It's pretty exciting seeing a gigantic horse driving down the road pulling a wagon full of singing kids.

We had no expectations when we decided to enter. We thought we'd get our name out there and have a little fun. The results did not come out for a few days because of some confusion with the voting. We were very curious to see the winners--there were some pretty fancy floats entered this year. Imagine our surprise when Max talked to Mrs. Joiner, the parade organizer, who told him we were the GRAND PRIZE WINNERS!!! Wow! There had been a three way tie for first place, so the judges had to go to a tie breaker. I guess three out of five judges gave us a perfect score! We ended up getting the title and the $500 prize money. Isn't that a kick in the pants? Didn't I tell you Mrs. Lindsey and our worker ants were the best?

Thanks so much, parade crew! You did us proud.

My tech-savvy sis-in-law just informed me that the pictures on this post and the post from yesterday are all messed up on her computer. WHAT? She let me know that it depends on what browser??? you have how the page is displayed. Big bummer. Sorry to those of you reading it with pictures stacked on pictures. Would you let me know if yours looks weird? I'm curious now. To me, the pictures are placed just fine. Have a good night.