Walter Reed had their Christmas party today. Amazing turnout, I had no idea it was going to be such a huge deal. We planned on stopping in for a few minutes before we went out to cut our tree.

Operation Homefront put on the party and were supported by several other charities and local churches. Santa was there with presents for all the kids, along with a ton of other goodies and activities. Target stepped in BIG TIME! All the service members recieved a $50 gift card and every kid in attendance had a $75 card in their bags! We thought those were from a private donor, but apparently Target stepped in and I think they teamed up with Operation Homefront to donate them. The kids had an awesome time. My highlight came when the Elvis broke out into Sweet Caroline! Gotta love it.

Following the party we drove out to Germantown, MD to cut the tree. Operation Second chance had sponsored a trip for a bunch of Wounded Warriors to head out to Butlers Orchard. We have wanted to head out there for one of their Halloween or Thanksgiving hayrides, but never made it. Really good time, the day started out with snow and continued until about and hour ago. The kids had a BLAST and Mazey looked like a puppy running around in the snow. I think she misses Alaska as much as we do.

So far we've only got the tree up, decorating with the kids in the morning.