"Lollipop trees and pepperment, too . . ."

Every year Dawna gives us a clue as to who the Special Guest is.

This year the clue was: MacGyver

Yes, that genius from the eighties who blew people up with a gum wrapper and lived to tell about it.

Now when Dawna began spreading these multicolored pieces of paper in a trail all over the living room floor, you can guess our bewilderment.

 Were there any funny colored trails in any of the MacGyver's we watched?

 And when this glorious world lay over the dining room table, our questions piled up and our brows rose high. CANDY LAND! Wait . . . what in the world does this have to do with MacGyver? Were we talking about the same MacGyver here?

 But we did not worry too much. The Candy Land transforming our simple little country house table awed us to complete silence. You can imagine my and Toi's complete delight! Shutter-click here, shutter-click, there! Here a click, there a click, everywhere a shutter-click!

 Grandma Nut's Butter Brickle House left me gaping. I couldn't even think about eating it! I couldn't! My sister MUST be the MacGyver genius she was talking about!

 Dawna stuck the Lollipop Forest into Starbursts for stands, fit for Princess Lolly herself! All I wanted to do was squeeze myself into a miniature person and get lost in this enchanted place.

 Candy Cane Lane. One of my favorite places! Peppermint in Divinity=Peppinity! Oh, can you imagine tasting that scent on the air every single day?

 Oh, and Candy Land Castle! Surrounded with the sweetest treasures, it filled the air with scents of another world, reigning with delight and beauty at the center of the array!

 The Gingerbread Men! What is Christmas without the blessed taste of ginger?

 Let the games begin! Off we traversed, down Candy Land Road, daring the Sticky Spots, Lord Licorice and his evil plots to overthrow the whole of the delectable world!

 Off we go! Heroes setting forth to rescue the king and save our land from this tyranny!

 Conquerors! For our heroicness and great bravery in battle, the king rewards us with plums from his royal forest! But no ordinary plums, these! Oh, no! Simply stuffed with savory delights and yummy treats! We are honored beyond our sweet tooth!

 And to our further surprise, the king gives a banquet in our honor!

 Preparations begin, our battle weary stomachs growl with hunger. Our parched lips smack with thirst! Oh, what gloriousness this is!

 Hello, Darling! What is this we drink we drink tonight at the illustrious table of our good King Candy? Wine? No, far to strong for the warriors! Juices from those faraway lands of the Undiscovered Islands! (You might remember those from our Pirate Party)

 What's this? The King promises us another surprise? A special guest to pleasure us beyond measure! Dearest wonders WHO it could possibly be!

 Ahhhhhhhh! At last we partake of the feast amongst these fabled lands! But tonight they live real! And forever in our memories they shall remain ever a joy, a sweet, sweet joy!

 Joseph savors the bite of the his first chocolate turtle! Further into heaven he falls! Further and further and . . . further . . . and--

 At end of the feast, the kind Lady of the Castle, Darling, gives us our own little towers of candy, filled with chocolates and taffy, caramels and lollipops! And then---then comes the revelation! Who could our special guest possibly be? Why! Candy Land of course! A sweet little soul of a story, and cute as can be, but---where is this MacGyver our lady has told us of? And what does it have to do with Candy Land?

Well, I'll tell you . . . Absolutely nothing!

And from there she reveals the true guest of the evening! "Menace on the Mountain"!

One of those childhood loves from long ago . . . about the McIver family and wonderful, heroic Jamie who saves those he loves from the terrible Poss! Set in the South during the Civil War, we loved flowing back in time, reliving days long past, but still so new.

Wishing you all a happy new year!
May God bless you and may you find the best joys are the ordinary ones.

Love,
Kayla