Lights, Snow, and a little Christmas Cheer

The weekend before Thanksgiving we loaded the children into the car and set off to see the Christmas Lights at the Opryland Hotel

I can't say they were overly impressed... probably because they lived in Las Vegas for 4 years before moving here.  Talk about bright lights ;-)

Then our neighbors adorned their balcony with their usual display of Christmas cheer ... 

If we took a vote today, my kids would say that "hands down" this is the finest display of Christmas lights they've EVER seen.  

Kudos to the neighbors for being uninhibited enough to let their kids handle their exterior decorations.  

That would never happen at my house ... I'm the type that lets the kids decorate the tree initially ... and then completely redecorates the tree after they go to bed.  I know, I'm a control freak (just like Monica on Friends) ... it's a disease ... I should really seek professional help!

One of my favorite spots to visit during the Holiday Season ... Temple Square in Salt Lake City.  You really MUST see this exhibit at least once during your lifetime. 

 

A modern day temple of our Lord...

 

set amongst 700,000 colorful lights ...

adorning hundreds of trees and shrubs

= a very touching experience.

Especially at this time of year,

when we celebrate the birth of our Savior, 

Jesus Christ.

Compared to Opryland... and Temple Square... and the neighbor's house... our lights are pretty minimal this year.  
But, if I play with the shutter speed on my camera our lighting display looks pretty impressive.  And Brynn was very pleased with the blue lights that we incorporated into the mix this year.  

Yes, that is a soft dusting of snow that you see on the bushes - our first snow of the season!  This is probably as close as we'll get to a WHITE CHRISTMAS.

And yes, that is Brynn in a pair of shorts and Kyra in her diaper venturing out into the snow storm - Mother of the Year ... RIGHT HERE!

I wish the pool was heated tonight so we could go swim while the snow gently falls (can you say pneumonia?) ...  so serene.

... and if you look carefully, you'll see Jolien's little family of pet deer lounging just outside the back corner of the fence.  No, we didn't capture them and tie them up - I've come to believe that they like to hunker down out back and listen to Per and Anders play the piano each night.  What... you think deer can't appreciate a lullaby?

Torby is REALLY EXCITED tonight - they cancelled his choir concert at school due to the snow.  He was required to sing tonight - it's a big part of his grade ... but alas, Mother Nature intervened.  Lucky boy!

Oh, and the school district already cancelled school for tomorrow.  

OK my friends in Norway, and my family and friends in Utah, Idaho, and Montana - go ahead and laugh...you know you want to so just get it out of your system.  The joke around here is that if someone spills a Slushee on the freeway they'll cancel school.  I'm afraid the snow will be gone by morning and the kids won't get to go out and play in it ... but they'll just be happy to be out of school for a day!  Ahhhh, to be a kid again...