Cook Family Christmas

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is looking at lights on Christmas Eve. I think this started when my family lived in Ohio and our neighborhood held a decorating contest every year. I remember cars lining the streets to look at lights, particularly on the weekends and especially on Christmas Eve. It seems like every house was decorated. Some were beautiful, like the big green house with Santa's sleigh and a wreath and candle in every one of the 30+ windows. Others were delightfully tacky, like the house with all the chaser lights going at different speeds and in different directions. And some had a little holiday humor, like the modern house that spelled out "BAH HUM BUG" in the upstairs windows. The neighborhood just seemed full of Christmas Spirit!

Looking at lights is a tradition that I've continued with my husband. We love listening to Christmas tunes and driving through neighborhoods full of decorated houses, noting when a house has really gone all out and often wondering how exactly they got those lights on that high peak over the garage.

Friday night, my husband and I decided to head out to one of our other favorite spots - the Cook Family light display. What makes this display so amazing is not just the 80,000+ lights. Nope, this is one of those houses that has the display set to music, broadcast through the car radio! The whole display runs for about 20 minutes, and then goes completely dark for about 30 seconds so cars can move out and let new ones in. The family collects donations for charity, and this year the money is going to A Child's Place.

Grinchy loved looking at the lights with us

With an amazing light display, fun Christmas music, and the charity tie-in, it's impossible not to feel the Christmas Spirit while watching the show. It also reminds me of those Christmas Eves in Ohio, driving around with my family to look at all the lights. I can only imagine what our neighborhood would've been like if these kind of shows were around then.

Thanks, Mr. Cook,  for helping us feel the Christmas Spirit!

The Biltmore

While many of you were out shopping on Friday, my husband and I took a road trip to Asheville, NC. Asheville is northwest of Charlotte and in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. We'd been told by many people that we had to see the Biltmore Estate at some point, and that it was gorgeous when it was decorated for Christmas. We decided to take advantage of being in North Carolina for Thanksgiving and drove two hours to Asheville to do a candlelight tour of the Biltmore Estate.

The Biltmore Estate is huge - it was almost three miles from the entrance gate to the house! We were directed to a parking lot, and from the parking lot we took a shuttle through the dark woods up to the mansion. When we pulled into the driveway, lighted by hundreds of luminarias, we saw this amazing and beautiful home. The outside of the home wasn't decorated, but there were lots and lots of Christmas trees on the lawn that were covered in lights!

Grinch toured the Biltmore with us

When we walked in the home, we were immediately transported to a Victorian Christmas. They even had ballerinas in the Winter Garden performing the party scene from the Nutcracker. The rooms were beautifully decorated and all of them had at least one tree. They used fresh garland and wreaths throughout the house (they estimated at least four miles of fresh garland were hung this year), and the Christmasy pine smelled absolutely wonderful. They also made a gingerbread replica of the estate that smelled delicious! I wanted to sneak a piece - they wouldn't notice, right?

They normally have audio tours available, but they weren't available for the candlelight visit. Instead we had a booklet to follow, that gave the history and interesting details of each room. There were also docents available to answer questions, particularly in the larger rooms with historical significance. For example, the library had a chess set owned by Napoleon! We had a wonderful time learning about the history of the home, as well as enjoying the beautifully decorated rooms. My husband and I took a trip to Spain in May, and walking through the mansion reminded me of all the castles and churches and museums we toured. Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the website has a few pictures so you can get an idea of what we saw. It was beautiful, and certainly not a place I would've visited if I didn't live so close.

That's one thing I've learned since moving to Charlotte - I definitely appreciate visiting and exploring new places. When I was living in the Midwest, I know I took my area for granted and assumed I'd seen everything worth seeing because I'd lived there my whole life. Everything is new to me in Charlotte, and I love visiting places I never knew about or traveling to parts of the country I'd never visit otherwise. I can honestly say I'd never go to Asheville if I didn't live so close to it now. Plus, I'm doing all of this exploration with my husband, and I always appreciate and cherish new experiences and making memories with my partner.

Meet the Grinch



In the car, on our way to pick out the other "Stanleys"

Remember my family's Christmas Flat Stanley project? Well, I thought it was time to meet our "Stanley" - the Grinch from Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It may seem odd to have the Grinch be part of a project that helps us find our Christmas spirit, but I think the Grinch and his story are a perfect example of how Christmas Spirit can be found in the unexpected.


Even before we started this project, the Grinch was already special around our house. My husband has Grinch pajama pants that he wears every Christmas morning. It's our family tradition to wear Christmas jammies on Christmas morning while we open presents, so our Grinch also reminds us of this fun tradition. Just thinking about being with the family on Christmas morning makes our hearts grow three sizes.

He's pretty cute, isn't he? You can also find a Grinch, or other Dr. Seuss characters for only $5 - they're the Kohl's Cares merchandise this year!

Just a little reminder that Christmas is coming!

Christmas Flat Stanley

Are you familiar with Flat Stanley Projects? In short, the Flat Stanley project consists of character, Stanley, drawn on a piece of paper and then mailed to friends and family. The friends and family that receive Stanley then take pictures of Stanley having adventures in a new town, and create a brief log or journal of things that each friend did with Stanley. The Stanleys, the photos, and the journals were then sent back to the original sender and everything was compiled into a blog, website, or scrapbook.


My family decided to do a Christmas version of the Flat Stanley Project. My parents and each of my sisters (and their families) is getting a "Stanley." Each family will photograph their Stanley doing activities that help the family get into the Christmas Spirit. These photographs, along with a description of the activity and how it got the family in the Christmas spirit, will be posted to a private family blog. The idea behind this project is that through the sharing of pictures and stories, we'll still be connected during the holiday season despite being so far apart from one another. We also hope that by being intentional and reflective about activities that help us find our Christmas Spirit, and sharing our stories with each other, we will also help each other find Christmas Spirit.

Like I said, that blog is private but I'm sure I'll be cross posting some of my own adventures here, and I hope that my stories will help get you in the Christmas Spirit too!