Jingle Bells and Whoopie Pies

Let other families go over the river and through the woods...the Temple Family heads to The City for our Christmas fun.
Even the car ride was harmonious as the kids compared iphone apps and took silly pictures of themselves.

No, there's nothing wrong with your eyes...Hill took these pics with some kind of app on her phone, making them look...retro?
Anyway, after enjoying some marvelous Mongolian food we hit the stores, collecting Christmas in the form of clothing, cologne, and cds.

And of course, in the car between stores, we did a few quick-changes.  Because who can resist wearing their new stuff right away?  I introduced Hillary to this fabulousness...

where she was pampered and prettied and persuaded to buy a few face necessities.
But the highlight of the day happened at Starbucks.
Hubby eased up to the drive-thru speaker where he placed our orders, one at a time...a mocha for me...a peppermint latte for himself...and then my Big Burly Guy looked at that speaker and with a straight face said, "...and one Whoopie Pie."  At this point I was the one doing the whooping.  With laughter that is.  I'm sure the poor clerk inside was rolling his eyes.  Hubby accused Hillary of ordering this just so he would have to say the word "whoopie".  She couldn't defend herself because she was laughing so hard.

We ended our evening with Sherlock Holmes...

..and popcorn and sodas and contraband candy smuggled in by purse and by pocket.
And I wanted to exclaim
as they turned down the lights...
"Merry Christmas to all!
It has been a GREAT night!"