Christmas by the Lake

The first weekend in December is always Christmas by the Lake in Clear Lake. Everyone has told us so much about it since we were first here last January. So yesterday was another new experience in a small town for us.

The youth group sponsors a live nativity in the City Park. I didn't get pictures. It is sort of funny watching the shepherds and Mary and Joseph walk around with snowpants under their costumes----a little bulky.

There are carriage rides, trolley rides, chestnuts roasting by an open fire (Yes, really), Santa's village, and more going on downtown during the day. In town there is a wonderful organization called Opportunity Village that helps mentally handicapped adults of varying ability to get to their fullest potential. They have a wonderful ministry to a few thousand individuals, and many people in town and in our church work there. Opportunity Village does their annual fundraiser this weekend also. They have people in town donate decorated Christmas trees. These trees are on display, and people buy them. It is a beautiful walk through their gym to see all of the lighted trees from 2 feet tall to at least 8.

At 5pm when it is getting dark, the downtown streets are lined with people as they wait for the lighted parade. There weren't as many people as the 4th of July Parade, but for a very cold December night, I thought that there were a lot. The Youth Group, again, does a float, so Peirce was in a shepherd costume walking down the street. (He was on the other side from us.)

After the parade, come the fireworks over the lake. Beautiful!

This lasted about an hour. When we got home, Dan started a fire in the fireplace, and I made grilled cheese sandwiches---yummy.----Life is good!!!