Christmas Traditions

I remember when I was growing up, the day after Thanksgiving was just as fun as Thanksgiving itself! Black Friday, you ask? No way! If you even knew my mother, you would know that shopping would never be on her list of fun activities. I am speaking of the lesser known of traditions (unless you live in the Livingston County area) of the Fantasy of Lights Parade!

My parents home town hosts a Christmas parade every year to usher in the Christmas season, complete with Santa Claus himself riding on the last float, going to the county court house to light the Christmas tree. It is very cute small town fun, even though this small town is now a large one. :)

My family has started it's own tradition as well. The Sunday evening after Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree. We invite some students and staff who haven't gone home for their Thanksgiving break to join us, and it is a lot of fun! This year was a smaller group, but just as fun. With the weather being so warm that weekend, Josh was able to hang a lot of outdoor lights this year too! It looks so cheery. I love it.

Here is one of the floats in the fantasy of lights parade. One of the requirements for the parade is that your float must contain at least 5,000 lights!

We were able to meet up with former student, and long time friend Jenna. This was probably the most exciting thing about the evening because we haven't seen Jenna since March! She is one busy girl!

I gave the camera to one of the students to take pictures, so I have about a thousand pictures of ornaments, and hardly any of people. he he

This was Addie's first year she was able to hang the star! She is growing up so fast.