Christmas in Branson, Missouri

The Boizelle family spent the 2006 Christmas Holiday in Branson, Missouri. This was our first Christmas away from home as a family. Some of the kids were not too happy about going to what seemed like an out of the way kind of place. At the end of the trip, however, all were pleased with the experience.

We flew into Kansas City, MO., a day or so before Christmas, rented a Grand Caravan and drove to Branson. It was like old times but with bigger kids. We did not have as many "are we there yet" discussions but we still had some issues around the seating rotation so each kid would have a chance at a captains chair. The pecking was in operation and parental influence was in order.

We stayed at a property that was part of our timeshare. Two bedrooms, seperate bathrooms, a large family living and dining area. The kitchen also had a breakfast bar that came in handy for christmas crafts and lazy breakfasts. Lauren slept on the pull out bed in the family room. We had a full kitchen with cooking utensils and dinnerware. It was a very nice set up with plenty of space. There was enough quiet space so Lauren could disappear and talk with Erik by phone. The unit also had a small balcony but it was a too cold to make much use of it. We also had use of the clubhouse which enabled us to use an electric piano for the traditional singing of Christmas carols.

We shipped a little Christmas to the property ahead of time. We also shipped a box with some of our christmas decorations but mostly craft supplies to make ornaments for the tree. I bought some wooden ornament blanks, craft paint and glue, etc. We had an excellent time making the ornaments. Each of the kids made a few.

The tree was then decorated with our homemade ornaments supplimented a string of lights. Our little tree made it feel like Christmas and the kids were more in the spirit of Christmas having contributed to the appearance of the tree.

Some of the ornaments were quite creative like the pine cone skier in mid-jump.

We attended church outside Branson. There are a number of families who perform on the strip in Branson. The Christmas program was excellent as a result.

We learned that the Osmand brothers attended this ward as did the Bretr family. Both families were away for the holidays. I would imagine it would be a tough job to be the ward music chairman! It would either be intimidating or like pulling teeth to ask individuals who perform night after night to be in the choir!

Branson was full of fun things to do. We had dinner at the Dolly Pardon Stampede which included a 4 course chicken dinner along with a show with horses, wagons and a real buffalo stampede. We also went to one of the variety shows in town called the Haygoods. Both shows were quite entertaining. The girls especially liked the cute Haygood brothers.

Branson is also the home to one of the better known amusement parks in America, Silver Dollar City. The park is open nearly year round so it is one of few parks open during the Christmas season. Most everyone enjoyed the roller coasters. Several were quite intense. One having a start speed of about 70 miles per hour quickly shooting vertical for about 200 feet. Another coaster had an incredible drop and several tight loops. Lindsay was not too keen on these rides but she did find one coaster that she liked and road several times. We were proud of her.

Silver Dollar City also boasts an evening light parade. It is quite dazzling

The last few days of our trip were spent in Kansas City, Mo. We visited the LDS Church visitors center in Independence, Mo. We visited the Liberty Jail, visitors center and stood on the Independence temple site. Of course, the family listened to Apostle Sheldon of the Hedrikite church as part of the temple site experience.

A must do in Kansas City, Mo., is to skate at outdoor ice rink across from the Hallmark Crown Center Mall.

An added perk of the trip was volunteering to be bumped as a family on our flight home to Phoenix. Poor weather conditions created air delays around the country. By volunteering, Southwest Airlines awarded us with about $2,300 worth of flight vouchers and rebooked us on a flight that left about 2 hours later. That was a sweet way to end our family Christmas vacation