{{HAPPY 2012!!}}

Happy New Year!  I hope your Christmas was merry and filled with good food and family.

December was a busy month for us.  We had family visit the first week of the month and then I took a vacation the last week of the month.

We've lived here in Louisiana for a year and a half now.  We are always learning new things about this state.  Over the holidays we were watching PBS and they had a special on the little town of Natchitoches.  Yeah, it's a mouthful to pronounce and not the way you would think.  It's pronounced (Nack i tish)  with the "i" being short.

 It's a quaint town.  One of the oldest that was established in 1714.  It also was the backdrop to the movie Steel Magnolias.  They have a lovely historic downtown district full of shops, dining and antique stores.  But that is not why we packed up the kids and the dog and drove two hours to see this place.  You see, they have something called the Festival of Lights each year.  Last year we missed it, so this year my sweet husband took as all up there to see it.  It starts the first weekend in December and goes all the way until the December 30th.  Except this year they extended it into New Year.

The town is full of old charm.  I love architecture and had to get a picture of this old bank building to share with you.  Look at all the details with the dental molding and the shutters and the beautiful iron railing on the balconies.

They had horse drawn carriage rides

We walked into a few boutique shops and a toystore and a general merchandise store.  That store was cool.  It had a little bit of everything in it.  Here is my family taking it all in and "chiefing it" as we like to call it.  Other wise known as walking ahead and leaving other family members in the dust.  (insert loving snicker here)

It was just starting to get dark when we were heading to a restroom.  We had been walking all afternoon and had eaten lunch and that wonderful glass or two of sweet tea was starting to kick in.  I love the old fashioned style street sign and  the way the lights twinkled in the background.  I took the picture in hopes of maybe getting some of the that magic "bokeh" in the background, but I wasn't successful.  Still need to practice.

Here is the same area at night.

Down on the riverbank is where the rest of the lights are.  Nothing extravagant, but simple and sweet.  I loved it.  This year marks their 85th year celebrating the Festival of Lights.  Here are just a few pictures of the lights at night.

Even amidst all the twinkling of the lights they still managed to share the "true reason for the season."



I enjoyed our trip there.  The hubs took the scenic route.  He knows I love that stuff.  I enjoyed time with family and I enjoyed the lights!

The younger generation  in our family even indulged me in a phot op.  I LOVE those sweet faces.

Tomorrow I will be sharing my word for the new year.

Have a blessed day!

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