In our subdivision, outdoor Christmas lights are frequently found. There are a few Scrooge's who never decorate their homes or yards, but the majority do.  And there are as many ways to use outdoor Christmas lights as their are people in your neighborhood. There is a good deal on Amazon right now for Good Tidings 162-0780-CLR-0 Heavy Duty Holiday Light Set with 450 Clear Lights Total Length of 147 Feet. They are described on Amazon as a heavy duty holiday light set appropriate for indoor or outdoor Christmas lights.  They are packaged with three sets of 150 clear lights on each string for a total of 450 lights.  As the  strings are each 49 feet long, you get a total of 147 feet.  You can even safely connect up to six strings to make one continuous set with a total length of 294 feet! Each light set is pre-tested and guaranteed to light. 450 Superbright bulbs shine with a steady glow or can be made to blink. Five spare bulbs are included (2 steady and 3 blinking). Use the blinking feature by replacing one of the bulbs with one of the spare blinking bulbs. These clear lights will sparkle at night in a long string of outdoor Christmas lights on your house or trees.

The Griswold family in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is another of our Christmas movies favorites. Just about anyone can feel better about the world around them when they watch all the relatives get together to enjoy a Griswold Christmas tradition. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation is available for the best price at Amazon. National Lampoons Christmas Vacation (Special Edition) (1989) We've all got strange people in our families… c'mon… admit it! The Griswold family has it's share of strange and often wonderful people in National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. If you've seen this movie then you already know its a Christmas movies favorite for many, many people. If' for some strange reason you haven't seen National Lampoons Christmas Vacation starring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo, you really should. It's funny every time.

One thing that helps my family get in the holiday mood every year is to watch our favorite Christmas movies. Even though each person has their own favorite Christmas movies, when we watch all of them together as our traditional start of the Christmas season, we feel a sort of special family closeness.

Christmas traditions may have changed, but the importance of having family traditions has not.

One of our all-time favorite Christmas movies is Its A Wonderful Life featuring James Stuart and Donna Reed. George Bailey can always make us feel better about our problems and the love and support he gets from his family and friends touches our hearts. And when Clarence gets his wings, well we all feel silly for the tears in our eyes. Amazon offers several versions of this Christmas movies favorite. The one pictured at the left is the 60th Anniversary Edition that came out in 2007 and is priced at $12.49. Its A Wonderful Life (Two-Disc Collector's Set) (B/W & Color) (1947) is priced at $17.49. Classic Christmas Collection (Its a Wonderful Life / White Christmas) (1947) this one comes with both Its A Wonderful Life and White Christmas. It's priced at $26.99.  Its A Wonderful Life has become a family favorite at our house and is always the first of the Christmas movies we watch together.  Many years we watch it more than once. No matter which version of the movie you decide to purchase, you can make it part of your own family Christmas movies and your own Christmas tradition for generations to come.