About that looking like Christmas

It is certainly cold enough here to be Christmas. 14 degrees this morning. Yowzers! Last night my boyfriend and I braved the cold and went to the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows over in Belleville, IL The website doesn't do it justice. Every year they have a Way of Lights that is beautiful. We have lived here over 12 years, every year saying we are going to go. Well it takes us a while but we finally went. Just beautiful. We had entertained the idea of seeing the lights on a carriage ride. So glad we didn't do that last night. Wicked cold!

The top picture is of the outdoor amphitheater. Not the best picture. And it is taken from incredibly far away. But it was beautiful.

There was a room full of Christmas trees decorated to represent different countries. The first is from the Lithuanian tree. Loved the ornaments. Not sure what they are made from but they were cool looking. The next is the tree for Greece. Loved the candles and it was trimmed with holy cards. Would never have thought of that. And the third is the tree for Ireland with the 12 days of Christmas.

This is just one of the few pictures that I got outside because just as we got to Bethlehem, the camera battery died. Isn't that just the way of things? So what are you doing to celebrate the season? My next project is to whip out some small gifts for the girls in my prayer group and for my spiritual director. Our tree should arrive next week.