Many of you know that my husband is in his last year of residency (no, we aren't done. We still have a year of fellowship after resodency). We have been married for 10 years. During that time, we both graduated from college in Utah (GO UTES), he went to medical school in Omaha, internship in Spokane, BACK to Omaha for Residency, and soon we will be off to Scottsdale for fellowship. That is an awful lot of cross country moves in 10 years, but we are happy to go on new adventures. AND one of my favorite things about moving is discovering all the new things unique to the places we live. And as we have actually lived 7 of our 10 years married here in Omaha so far, we have had lots of time to discover great hidden gems around our city.As with all cities, the holiday season brings lots of fun activities. and I am a SUCKER for a free family event! (I am also a fan of inexpensive ones!!) Visit Omaha has a great list of activities you can do over the holiday season and in fact has a site it launches just for the Holidays. This site covers events for families, kids, adults, well...for everyone! Free as well as costly and all kinds of options for fun! I was sent a few of the free and inexpensive upcoming activities to share with you (These are just ones coming up this week--near Thanksgiving. There are more I will share in an upcoming post!):

Holiday Lights Festival – The festival lights up Omaha’s downtown and has been an Omaha tradition for over 10 years. The Festival kicks off with a special lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving evening, November 24th at 6 pm. For more information on the Holiday Lights Festival, visit www.holidaylightsfestival.org.

***Cost Information: This event is free.

After the Thanksgiving lighting ceremony, you can go to the Nebraska Wind Symphony Concert at the Holland Center. This free concert – part of the Holiday Lights Festival - features more than 85 local musicians. The concert takes place on November 24th at 7 pm. To learn more, visit www.nebraskawindsymphony.com .

***Cost Information: This event is free.

***Cost Information: This event is free with membership and free to non-members on Sundays. For non-members, admission is $6 for adults, $3 for children between the ages of 3-12, and free to children under 3.

The Tree Lighting Ceremony kicks off Christmas at Union Station (at the Durham Museum). This event takes place on November 25th from 4-7 pm. A highlight of this year’s celebration will be a performance by jazz singer Camille Metoyer Moten, who will perform along with a Christmas carol sing along, cookie decorating, holiday crafts for kids and visits with Santa Claus. To learn more, visit: http://durhammuseum.org/about/whats-new/details.aspx?ID=230 .

***Cost Information: This event is free with museum membership. For non-members, admission is $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and $5 for children between the ages of 3 and 12. Children under 3 are free.

Please go check out the Visit Omaha holiday site to see the other fun upcoming events. Oh, and go check out The Visit Omaha Facebook page where you can enter a contest called the “Happier Holiday’s Giftaway.” The winner gets a two night “stay and play” at Midtown Crossing!!! That is awesome!! If I don't win it, one of you should!