Christmas Lights and a Little Hot Chocolate

There are so many reasons why I love this time of year.  One of them is driving around in the evenings looking at the beautiful light displays.  What other time of year can you slowly drive by the same house twenty times, without the owners getting freaked out and calling the police on you?

Since I was a child, I have loved going on nighttime Christmas light drives.  And now that our boys get so excited about our drives, it makes me love it even more.  I remember my mom's enthusiasm when she would take us to look at Christmas lights and know it was truly genuine, because I don't know how you can not get totally into it when your children are giggling and shouting, "Wow! Look at that!" from the backseat.  Oh, and a ride through the lights would not be complete without hot chocolate.  This is the first year that both boys have gotten to partake in this part of the tradition, so that has made it even more special for them.  Especially, when they were given unlimited marshmallow access.

Two of our favorite stops this year have been the Winterwonderland that is found at the end of the Sunnyside subdivision, off Hillsboro Road (right passed the Grassland area, for you locals) and the Lipton Lights display in the Amber Glen subdivision, off of Liberty Pike. 

The Sunnyside display is such a fun display that encompasses an entire cul-de-sac of homes, with very large front yards packed full of lights, characters, and displays.  You can get out and walk around to get a closer look at the lights.  It is really neat and there is a very sweet story about how it came about.  The display's creators mainly began and continues this decorating tradition each year to honor the memory of their son, BJ, who died a number of years ago at the age of sixteen.  On a sign at the entrance of the display, it says that their son's favorite quote was, "We need more lights!"  A donation box is set up and proceeds go to Shriner's hospital.

The Lipton Lights house is just an awesome spectacle to behold.  The boys call it the "Dancing House."  The lights are synced to music that can be heard by tuning your radio to a specific station.  I didn't get any pictures or video of this house, but the Songers did, so you can visit Katie's blog or the link to the Lipton Lights' webpage to see some video. It truly is spectacular!  This family also has a donation box, with proceeds going to Happy Tales Human society of Franklin.