Lights!

The old neighborhood dresses up pretty nice at night.

This is across the street from us.
Across the street and one over (those are wooden soldiers in the foreground)






Two doors down, during the day time, these guys sit deflated on their front lawn. They look like laundry needing to be folded. Not pretty. Cute at night though.

Next door, the house where we had dinner on Saturday. The snow flake twinkles.

Our house has red and green lights on the holly bushes under the front windows. Minimal, but effective. One year I decorated every bush in front. It was great!

Barbara next door was pleased we used colored lights as most of the houses went for white lights, and one year old babies prefer colors, right?

This is barely scratching the surface compared to what goes on up in Salt Lake City. The Temple Square is amazing, with all their trees wrapped in lights out to the tiniest twig. I loved the hot pink trees last year.

Dallas had a pretty good Christmas light decoration thing going. Near our house was a guy who decorated his two story enormous house by outlining EVERY brick and shingle in lights, front, back, sides, roof. Then he did every bit of the yard, the grass was green lights, the bushes, trees etc etc. You could stand in front of it and warm up!

Bernie was a fan of two other homes. One home owner had changed the duel spot lights over the garage so one light was red and the other was green. Yea-ah! As a card carrying member of IBEW, Electrician Bernie has little tolerance for putting up lights that need to be taken down again in a single month. Too much like work...but this year he did help me put out two strands on the bushes!

We both liked the guy in Dallas who slid the little Styrofoam tray full of lights out of its sleeve, and nailed it up with the lights still in the Styrofoam and plugged it in.

Can't you just hear it:

"Honey, could you put these new lights up outside?"

"Yes dear."

(Sound of sleeve slipping off the Styrofoam tray, then WHAM as the hammer hits one nail)

"Honey, the lights are up. I going to go play golf now. See you later!"

But the Christmas lighting winner for the entire universe is Christmas Utah. The guy has his music broad casted via a radio station and has over 100,000 lights "performing" to the songs. A sign tells you which station to tune into, and you could spend hours watching the show, as he has sync'd multiple songs.

Enjoy his work at
http://www.christmasutah.com/

and see some of this year's show at:
http://www.christmasutah.com/2006_lights.html

I'll be seeing them in person again this year, as we'll do Christmas in San Diego and then head to SLC the day after Christmas. Yeah...it's going to be a great Christmas!