Pre-Christmas Fun

A couple days before Christmas we went to look at lights. There is a neighborhood near our house that goes all out. Each cul-de-saq has a theme (i.e. Frosty the Snowman, Disney, the Christmas story, etc.) and usually have wood cut outs to go with that theme. I heard that if you move you are supposed to leave your decorations for the new owner so they can stay with the theme :)

We got there right as it got dark to avoid the crowds, but we were not the only ones with that idea:

Here are some of the houses. Some pictures aren't that great because I was trying to figure out which setting to use on my camera, but I wanted you to see the pictures anyway to get an idea of what the neighborhood was like.

Anastasia liked seeing Mater in front of some of the houses:

Some houses even decorated their mailboxes like this gingerbread house one:

I really liked this house:

This house best lights this year. it was on the Carousel Horse themed street.

We had a great time and the girls really enjoyed seeing all the lights. I think we'll have to go again next year :)

On Christmas Eve we had a pretty laid back day and then went to church in the evening.

This is one of Elyse's friends from church:

After church we headed over to the Smith's house for some tamales. I was so happy to spend the holiday with someone. I was getting a little sad not being around family, but this cheered me up.

The kids table:

The adults:

Haley had baked a birthday cake for Jesus. The kids enjoyed singing and then eating :)

After the festivities we went home and prepared for the next day :)