Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Christmas Lights near our Home

Last Wednesday,  I posted some pictures taken from our ride around the Fairfield Glade community.  This is another post from that ride, and my final Christmas post of 2010 (except for a couple of posts of Christmas lights we saw while we were at the beach).  The picture above was from a house which had decorations ALL over the yard... That's a little 'much' for my taste--but we did get some good pictures...





Here is a picture of another house which had LOTS of lights and decorations.   I did like it better --mainly because the yard itself was larger.





This is the same yard as the picture above...  This entire display was very tastefully done.





Here's the angel in the same yard... I really love this angel.




Here was a simple but beautiful display showing the Nativity.  The big star is what caught my eye when we passed by it.




Finally,  this is my favorite display of ALL.  The little sign beside the display says it all: "Let there be Peace on Earth".

Hope each of you had a fabulous Christmas this year.  We certainly did --and we enjoyed sharing ours with you.  Now it is 2011--and we get to start over and do it all again...

HAPPY 2011!!!

Hugs,

52 comments:

Elen Susan said...

That's a lot of spectacular decorations. Love them all especially that angel. These seem very imaginative and highly creative.On christmas eve I also went for seeing the christmas lights and those were as beautiful as these.
Have a good day

Beth said...

I love even a simple drive to the grocery store more during the holidays because of the house decorations--they always lighten my heart and make me smile.
My favorite here is the angel.

pam said...

I hope you have a wonderful year!

Anonymous said...

I love the tall angel especially. It's always fun to go out after dark on Christmas Eve and enjoy the festive lights and decorations. Wishing you all the best in 2011 Betsy.

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beautiful displays.Thanks for sharing your community's lights.
Blessings,Ruth

Melanie said...

Very pretty display! I like the nativity and the angel.
I didn't see a lot of Christmas lights out this year where I live...maybe because it was so cold that people didn't do too much this year.

Darla said...

I don't care for so many lights myself. Some of these are very beautiful on their own.

mamahasspoken said...

I love Christmas lights! But then you could tell that when you saw them on my blog ;o)

Arkansas Patti said...

Some homes look like Christmas light yard sales. Just too much and you sure wouldn't want to live next door to them. I personally prefer simple.
Even our town went a bit lite on the lights this year.

Unknown said...

After my exercise class, I picked up the girls from Grandma's last night, and we took a little turn to see the Christmas lights still up. I'm so glad people are still letting their lights shine. They make me and my girls smile a bit bigger!

Linda at To Behold The Beauty said...

I do enjoy Christmas lights, even though we don't put any out ourselves. I especially liked the one that had "presents" under the tree. I'd never seen that done with lights before.

Karin said...

We haven't done that drive this year so I'm glad I could tag along for your ride! Love the trumpeting angel and the other one with the star! Very tastefully done!

amy @ Life in Pink Hi-Tops said...

We love Christmas lights! As we drive down the road the kids yell out enthusiastically, "Christmas lights!" whenever they see some. We didn't see any this year as pretty as those.

Kathy W said...

Good Morning Betsy. I didnt get a chance to see any Christmas lights this year. Thats not a bad display, I have seen where people literally cover every inch of their property with lights. LOL I just keep thinking of the high electic bill they must pay.

Small City Scenes said...

I is always fun to drive around and oh and ah at the different displays. We have never put up outside lights so we always enjoy others.

Happiness to you in the new year. MB

Dorothy said...

I like to see the lights everyone puts up for Christmas. Two of the places near here that used to have HUGE public displays have stopped putting them up.
I love your header of the Cardinal in the snow!!!

Pat - Arkansas said...

Lovely photos, Betsy. The only Christmas lights I saw this past year where those on my way to and from the Christmas Eve service at church, since I don't go out very often at night. Thanks for sharing your experience.

ratieh said...

i like the second yard with all of its decorations. =)

Busy Bee Suz said...

**Gorgeous!!***
xoxoxoxo

DIGITAL WORLD PAGES ARCHIVE said...

Hello!
I liked the last photo very much!

MadSnapper said...

beautiful lights and i like that nativity. they are rare here, i think i saw 3 the whole season, its all snowman, reindeer, Santa with nothing of the reason for the season

Out on the prairie said...

Very nice share and thank you for the wonderful comment. I have considered self publishing for a while.

Sharon said...

I like it best when there a just a few simple decorations, some people just get carried away. They showed some on the news that people flocked to see and it was too garish for me, guess I am not a kid any more. :-)

On to the New Year!

Anonymous said...

Hi Betsy, Excellent photographs! I like the last picture. That Nativity, as you know, looks great even in the daytime! Thanks for showing the beautiful yard decorations. I hope you have a fabulous day!

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Great shots, Betsy. I love Christmas lights. We didn't get any put up this year, but I've purchased my lights for next year! We put up the LED lights last year, but didn't like them. Have a great day! ~Cheryl

Janice K said...

What is there to say but "Beautiful."

amelia said...

Hi Betsy,

I'm not into all those lights at all. Very simple is my motto and we really do keep it simple!

I'm glad though that you enjoyed them all!!

DeniseinVA said...

I would have enjoyed looking at all those decorations Betsy. A great display of photos. Not everyone seems to decorate around here and what I see is pretty and simple, but there is one house on a cul-de-sac that reminds me of a Griswold 'Christmas Vacation' house. You need sunglasses on to walk by. They put so much effort into it and it does look spectacular but their yard isn't that big either. They must have great neighbors as it's been going on for as long as we've lived here (20 yrs), and they have lots of drive-through traffic around the holidays.

Ginny Hartzler said...

I agree completly with your comments on the decorations! That snowman in the first picture is surrounded by poinsettas and candy canes, too much. They need to remove the candy canes. You should see some of the houses around here, you would be aghast! Every square inch is covered! I sometimes wonder if it is their taste, or maybe they let their little kids help out and pick out where to put things. If that's the case, it's O.K., then.

Ginny Hartzler said...

I can't remember if I told you how much I love your header! I meant to tell you yesterday, then I get all involved looking at your post and forget.

I Am Woody said...

I love Christmas lights!! :)

Pamela said...

I love a blog based on JOY! Glad to have found you. Enjoyed seeing all the Christmas lights.

CottonLady said...

Betsy, I really love your header--my favorite bird and he stands out so well against the snow!

Your pictures are pretty.
Blessings!
CottonLady

Diane said...

All pretty but the last picture is especially pretty. I like the one color lights, it's peaceful to me. Daien

Kay said...

How pretty.

Valerie said...

Wow! Some folks have the nicest decorations and lights!

I love your snow photo header and snow backdrop!!
Ours finally all melted and now we have fresh clean stuff making a mess all over again! Oh well - such is life in the winter!!

Fred Alton said...

Those were really beautiful displays of Christmas lights, Betsy! Thanks for sharing them. We didn't get out this year as we have in the past and look for the decorations. There is a place in the country near my cabin which always has a beautiful show of Christmas lights and I didn't even get there this year. Maybe next.

floweringmama said...

Beautiful pictures and the last is my favorite! We're the only ones in our neighborhood that put out lights outdoors. Just a simple lighted garland on the porch and 3 lighted deer.

KathyA said...

The Christmas light-loving part of me really hates to see the season end. The good news, though, is now it's time to start planning the gardens and the pots!! :)

Neal said...

Very nice Betsy but I just absolutely love that header picture!

Together We Save said...

So many wonderful decorations!! Your header picture is my favorite though!

Jackie said...

I love the angel. If I had it, I would put it up again at Easter, by a "cave" with a sign that said,"He is risen."

Anonymous said...

What pretty Christmas decorations! I'm sad to say that I didn't take any photographs of outdoor decorations. I'll get them this year at Christmas :-)

Catherine said...

You sure saw some terrific lights ~ I find people don't put up as many lights as they used to around here.

Very pretty!
xo Catherine

carolina nana said...

We have a surprise chance of snow for tomorrow here also but waiting until late in the day.
Hope you don't get bad weather on your trip with George's parents.
I love that nativity scene with the sign.
Have a blessed tomorrow and stay safe.
Marilyn

Barb said...

Hi Betsy!

I just keep seeing your sweet face on lots of the blogs that I follow, and so I just wanted to pop over and check out your blog and say "Hi"! What fun I have had browsing! You have wonderful photos! I love Tennessee, my husband worked there for a short time and I loved visiting him - such a beautiful part of the world!

Happy New Year!

Blessings,
Barb

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

I like the nativity set, Betsy. It's always fun to see how people decorate, both inside and out, for Chrsitmas.

A very happy and healthy 2011 to you and George & your family!

Annie Jeffries said...

Hi Betsy,

Love the Christmas lights, especially that cute Snowman. But the one that really moved me was the star and cross. Jesus, fulfillment of prophecy. Glorious.

Annie

Chad said...

Hey Betsy! I hope you had a great holiday as well! I enjoyed the pics of the light displays... life did not allow me to get out and look around much this year - I was overtaken by work! So, this was a nice opportunity to see what it is all about!

SquirrelQueen said...

Your neighborhood had some really colorful displays, the one with the angel is espcially nice. I think one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is seeing all the lights.

Happy 2011!
Judy

Lisa said...

How very beautiful.
And to think I look at two feet of snow daily and you see grass. Loved your post Besty

Twilight Man said...

I am late to wish you but never mind, a HAPPY NEW YEAR to you both! May God continue to bless you both with robust health, happiness and plenty of travels the whole 2011. How about visiting Malaysia? You might get culture shocks in Asia. Ha ha ha!....