Because of some people being sick or traveling… or both… we postponed our actual family Christmas party until the fourth when everyone was available. It was very nice to have everyone over. We catered food this time, which was nice, so we didn’t have to cook. Cleanup was super easy. We loved the gifts that we received and it is always so cool to see people enjoy gifts we give them.
We had some plans that got cancelled and luckily we had a back-up plan and saw some friends who are really great! They had friends who were really nice! We played games until midnight.
Happy New Year!
We had a nice get-together with our friends to celebrate some Christmas. It was our usual white-elephant version of Christmas and we even had a special guest… Gabe came to visit his mom and us of course and it was also his birthday.
As per usual, we spent a few days in early December with our family up in Michigan. We got the cool seats again for the ride out there, where you can lay flat and the seats had lumbar support too. So comfy!
Unfortunately my brother was sick when we got there and some of us may have caught his illness!
We saw my mom at the airport and Courtney picked us up. Sure was chilly the whole week we were there… which is nice because the ground stayed white the whole time. Last year we had snow but then we had rain and it melted everything. Jaime played with Larry and I played with the kids as much as we could. A lot of fun for everyone!
We got to hang out with our friends at the Yucca Tap Room. I put “again” in the title because its not the first time they’ve played there. It feels pretty cool to have friends who are the band and to just hang with them as they got there.
It was also cool to see both Camille and Randy, post their divorce they can still hang out and be relatively cordial. I haven’t witnessed anything where they were disrespectful to each other, so that’s nice!
The band sat with us as they entered and I thought it might be rude to snap photos with them at that point so I just took normal photos as they set up.
Out of the blue, our friend, Mariah, had tickets and invited us to the Phoenix Winter Fantasy Ball! It was out at the Ashley Castle, where Jaime and I got married back in 2011. We got dressed nice and fancy and reminisced about back when we got married there. Met some people, did some eating and drinking, did some of their events, like naming our pet dragons (I got a little black one in a small egg), we also did some dancing! The whole thing was just a lot of fun. One person from our table got a tattoo there! Wild! Oh, I won a dagger. It looks cool.
As per tradition, we went to Brandee and Brent’s place for Thanksgiving. Food was delicious and afterwards we got to play with the chickens.
I had a quiet day. I had the day off. I went to the gym. For dinner, the kids came over and brought my grandcat with them. We ordered food and ate. Played with the cat and then at the end of the night, we went for ice-cream. It was exactly what I wanted.
We got a gig with the AZ Veterans home to do some Halloween songs and to also thank them for their service. We didn’t have many opportunities for practice but we pulled off a great show for them. Some songs, I was surprised!
Here’s some pictures of us.
Last night, we dove down the rabbit hole at a Dark Ones party themed “A Dark and Twisted Alice in Wonderland.” The energy was incredible, with everyone showing up as their favorite Wonderland characters, but with a spooky, surreal twist.
My wife was the star of the night in her stunning Queen of Hearts costume. She crafted it herself, and honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it. Her attention to detail was mind-blowing; every stitch, accessory, and flourish brought the twisted Wonderland Queen to life.
Throughout the night, we caught up with plenty of friends—fellow cosplayers and Wonderland enthusiasts—swapped stories, sipped creative cocktails, and took loads of photos. The conversations ranged from outrageous costume hacks to campfire tales to deep dives into gaming and spooky folklore. It was the kind of gathering where everyone felt a bit like family, united by love of fantasy and fun.
Great costumes, even greater company, and a chance to lose ourselves in imagination. Here are some photos I was able to get.
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