Merry Christmas Mormon Style!

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Each year the Mormon Temple in Mesa puts on a wonderful display of Christmas lights that is open to the public. Thousands of people walk the grounds each night to get a look at the beautiful imagery portrayed on their land. We stopped one night around 6:30 pm and was surprised to find an available parking space and room to walk around. We came upon the Three Wise Men as one of our first sights. (click on any photo to make even larger.)

Those tall lights in the background are "fans" that are hanging from palm trees.

These lights were made to look like a blue fountain of water.

A little farther down the walkway, we came upon this colorful "forest" of trees.

Then we walked through this tunnel of lights

to get behind the Visitor's Center and see Joseph and Mary,

and to see these blue lit trees. They had these white-lit "icicles" hanging from them that the light would race down every few seconds. It looked quite magical.

Look at these trees with orange lights wrapped up the tree trunks, and bunches of lights to look like groups of fruit.

There is free entertainment each nigh at 7:00 pm. This young lady sang like an angel and entertained a large crowd.

Between the Visitor's Center and the temple itself sat a Reflection Pond. The water was a sheet of glass and I was able to capture this great reflection (posted on Weekend Reflections on Sunday).

Here's the Temple reflected in the pond.

And the Temple lit up.

There was a small pond in front of the Temple with lit candles floating in it.

Purple Trees

The stable full of animals:

The stable with baby Jesus was stunning with the bright star hung above.

There were many Mormon representatives on the grounds ready to answer any questions or assist you in any way; BUT there was no selling tactics used - no PERSUASION to join the Mormon church. I would HIGHLY recommend that if you are ever in the MESA, AZ area near the Christmas holidays, that you stop by to see their exquisite decorations. It is well worth your visit.

Christmas joke-of-the-day:

Q. What do you call a cat on the beach at Christmastime?

A. Sandy Claws!

Naughty Christmas Jokes

The jokes below are rated for age 18 and older. If you would be offended by off-colored jokes, skip today's post.

Christmas joke-of-the-day:

Q. Why does Santa Claus go down the chimney on Christmas Eve?

A. Because it soots him.

Weekend Reflections - Christmas Lights

This was taken at the Mormon Temple in Mesa, Arizona during their annual Christmas Lights Display. This is the Visitor's Center, and a young woman is entertaining the crowd with her beautiful voice. The Christmas lights and visitor center is seen in the reflecting pool centered in front of the building. I will have more photos of the Christmas lights from the temple this week. Stay tuned.

For more weekend reflections, visit James here.

A Tumbleweed Christmas

You've probably heard of and seen a "Charlie Brown" Christmas tree

 

Heck, you can even buy your OWN for a nominal fee....

But have you ever heard of a tumbleweed tree?

Me neither. Until I saw an article in the paper about a nearby town called Chandler that has a Christmas tree made out of tumbleweeds, and they've been doing this for 54 years! Watch this informative video before continuing on to my photos.



We didn't go see the tree lighting ceremony; instead we went late one afternoon during the following week. It just happened to be the night of the Farmer's Market.

Here is the tree in the light of day.

Right next to the tree sat this crib filled with realistic looking baby dolls that a woman had made and was selling at the market.

The evening temp was mild and we enjoyed strolling through the vendors and looking at their wares.

Here was a man selling some fancy olive oils and different flavors of balsamic vinegars.

Aren't these beautiful bottles? The inside is filled with white lights.

They are made by this beautiful woman named Yazmin Zamora. You can visit her blog at http://delightfulbottles.blogspot.com for more information on the bottles.

This friendly guy was offering free salsa and chips as an advertisement to a local Mexican restaurant. I was tempted to taste them, but I didn't want to ruin my appetite for dinner.

There was several restaurants to choose from, but we decided on the San Tan Brewery Company.

They make their own beers there - thus the name! Here's  one of their Master Brewers hard at work.

They offered a "beer sampler" of 7 beers. Jim was interested in trying them. He looks a little bewildered, doesn't he?

Bottoms up!

The food was delicious. Jim ordered a voodoo blue burger (blue cheese burger)

and I had the Philly steak wrapped in beer bread. Yum!

After dinner we walked back across the street to see the Tumbleweed Christmas Tree lit up at night. To my delight, there were carolers from a local middle school singing their hearts out.

Here's the tree at night.

Of course, Santa couldn't be far away.

While I was standing there taking pictures, this guy drove by with his Jeep all lit up. It was pretty strange looking. You judge for yourself.

Here's a close up taken with my flash.

Christmas joke-of-the-day:

Q. Why are Christmas trees such bad knitters?

A. They are always dropping their needles