Brea Christmas Lights Neighborhood

Happy Christmas week- goodness I can’t believe another year has come up on us.  Every December my life is made up of Christian and secular activities.  This past Saturday, my family joined my best friends in our annual Christmas lights site seeing tradition.  For the past four years (or longer) we have been going to this neighborhood in Brea that goes way out in Christmas decorations.  The kids as well as the adults really enjoy walking through the neighborhood and admiring the light displays.  Usually there’s tons of people on the streets and some of the homes sell hot chocolate, doughnuts- even tamales!  Thus, I told my parents and sis (this being their first year joining us) that there would be food.  So, hungrily we packed the car- only to realize after an hour of walking the neighborhood that there was no food or drink to be found.  Our bellies roared and my family made fun of me for promising them food.  We finally got to the house, where we remembered the tamales were sold and the owner of the property met us with the saddest news, “her renters had moved out of the property; thus, no more tamales!”  This house usually supplied us not only with tamales, but also churros and champurrado.  Realizing that our homies were gone made us miss them- even though we only ever exchanged cash for goodies.  After many jokes at my expense my family forgave me for bringing them on this journey with empty bellies.  As a sign of peace we turned the street to find a live nativity! Yep, a home set up a live nativity using goats from the local high school agricultural farm.  I gathered my bunch for a quick snap.  On our way back to the car we saw two live bands playing Christmas classics on their lawns.  Now that I think about it we also missed Santa, usually there’s a human Santa on a sleigh in one of the homes.

The live Nativity.

A huge Nativity.

The kiddos!

If you are looking for something fun to do with the family check out the Brea Christmas lights. Every home goes way out in Christmas cheer and depending on the night you will find goodies and maybe even snap a picture with Santa.  My parents really enjoyed it.  As for me I truly enjoyed it this year (even without tamales) because it was the first year that my parents went.  Now that dad has retired he is full of energy to do everything that I suggest, like tonight we will be attending a posada at a local parish where our bishop will be celebrating Mass.  I think it’s important to embrace some of the secular traditions because through them we embrace others where they are at, but it’s also important to incorporate our Catholic traditions.  I have found that together this mix of customs enriches my life and helps me connect with everyone I love, whether Christian or not.  What are some of the things you do every December?