Monday, December 15, 2008

Snow, Festival of Lights at the Grotto and I Got Another Award!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.....because there's more coming!

Yep, another storm is on its way for Wednesday's forecast. I made it into work fine today but went in late (around 12:30 pm) since the hill I go down in the morning was frozen! I knew that if I tried everyone would see a girl screaming with her arms waving out the window as she plowed through the cars parked along the side. I'm still not a skilled snow driver (since I come from Southern California) so I don't want to put ANYONE at risk on the roads. I had to wait until the sand truck decided to come along then I left. I'm afraid Wednesday I will literally be stuck in my place. Fine with me!

Saturday night my friend Bryan and I went to go see The Festival of Lights at The Grotto. The Grotto is a 62 acre Catholic Shrine and botanical garden. The whole place was lit up! It was so, so beautiful. They had a small stage outside with actors re-enacting the birth of Jesus and in the chapel they had a catholic choir singing beautiful songs! As we walked around with hot chocolate in our hands keeping them warm from the below freezing temperature, we enjoyed admiring the lit paths, the carolers and the stories of Jesus that were being told at different displays.

Isn't this path just haunting? It greeted us as we walked toward the center of all the lights!



One of several displays along the path....


Snowflakes lit the ground on the paths....


Beautiful Christmas lights along the path....

An enchanting wishing well....

Joy....



The chapel where the choir sang...



Carolers....they sang beautifully....



Isn't this red tree beautiful?


Prayer candles....


Bryan has the picture of the actual Grotto and I need to get that from him so I will update this later with that beautiful picture!

Last.....I got an award from that famous writer Blonde Duck! It's the Friends award and she has been a true friend to me in blog land. I know one day very soon she will get an offer for one of her books and I hope she will keep me as a friend when she is famous. :)

Thank you Duckie!! You are truly an amazing person!



I will pass this one on very soon. :)

P.S. Checkout my new feature down at the bottom by my playlist. I'll be posting some fun quizzes regularly! :)



17 comments:

Seawashed said...

Oh my goodness this is delightfully enchanting. How lucky you are to be able to go to such a place. I find my heart fills with cheer when I go see the lights. We have some special places nearby that we go to every year, and not just once, but several times.

And the snow is lovely too. I wish it snowed here. There is nothing like the earth covered in white.

Tracey said...

this is an enchanting scene. I love the lights and your right ,that red tree is absolutely beautiful. What a night it must have been. Wish we had something like that up here in Maine.. but getting to see your pics does make up for it. Stay safe,,( I hate driving in snow and I live in Maine!!)

LyndsAU said...

How beautiful :) And I am so glad to meet another animal lover :) That bird story was great :)

CIELO said...

I cannot believe that's the Grotto.... we were there last summer... wow... I even post about it on my "Secret Garden" blog... we love that place! By the way, I was finally able to thank you publicly for the blog award you gave me awhile ago... thanks again.

Have a lovely day

cielo

Melissa said...

Michelle,

Hoe beautiful and festive it all looks.

Be safe driving on those wintry roads.

Thank you for the tip on diverticulitis. I'll have to look it up.

Have a great day.

Melissa

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, simply beautiful! I love the snowflakes on the ground and the red-lit tree ones the best!

Stay home; be safe! I'm doing the same (although poor dh will have to go to work).

Hannah said...

How beautiful. I love the snowflakes on the path and that red tree is just gorgeous! All the lights are so beautiful!

I am totally with you on the arms waving out the window thing, the problem is I do that when we aren't sliding just for the reason there is snow on the ground. If freaks me out, driving in it and my husband looooves to drive in it. How is that for compatible!

Have a great day!

Pam said...

I still have never made it to the grotto and I've lived here for 11 years. I need to get on it! It's just too cold right now to venture out.

Congrats on your award!

KeKe said...

Your kitty cat is adorable!!!

I'm having a give-away...check it out!!

XoXo Kelly

The Blonde Duck said...

I love the pictures! Thanks so much for the shout out. I think I'm a long way from being famous, so I wouldn't worry. :)

Chrissy...The Apothecary Shop said...

Wow.. what a great post! Don't you just love Christmas!!! Hope all is well with you!

vanillasugarblog said...

love that one pic of the lights leading the way....very enchanting....
kisses to those sweet kitties of yours

Elaine said...

Oh what a magical place it must have been! i would love to have listened in on the carollers and choirs too.

Be careful driving in that snow even us experienced snow drivers can hit an icy patch and spin out. Lucky you if you can stay home and enjoy the snow from the warmth of your home.

soulchocolate@hotmail.com said...

What a romantic dimly lit path, i love how it looks! First snow of the season is always the best ;-)

Noodlegirl said...

I love those pic. Aii so sorry about last nite the "relative" and I were chatting online and I didn't want to accidently msg the wrong person with the wrong stuff lol. Hey I am surprised by my drink resutls caues i am a total taker not a giver eeeehehhehee. One thing true though I been drinking alot of hot chocolate!

Porchlight Interiors said...

So great that you are getting out and enjoying all the things that make Christmas so beautiful! Gorgeous pictures - thanks for sharing! Tracey x

Tea Time With Melody said...

How fun this looks like. I have not seen anything like it before. Thanks for sharing.