This weekend was the annual Middleburg Christmas Parade. This was our fourth year participating (in as many years as we’ve lived here) and it’s already become a Christmas tradition. Our school has a float in the parade each year; we’re always riding in it or walking behind it, tossing candy to the crowd. It’s great fun – I already can’t imagine Christmas without it!

We were the very last float in the parade this year so it was tough to get many pictures (we essentially missed the entire parade). But we did see a few go by as they were heading to get in line. This was one of my favorites:

The horses are gorgeous, aren’t they?!

My niece came to visit over the weekend so we were lucky to be able to bring her along. The girls had a great time on the float:

Any guesses as to what our school mascot is? ;-)

Even though we were last, don’t feel too sorry for us – this was our view while we were waiting:

That’s Beth, on the right, hanging off the truck that was pulling our float. She’s always got a smile on!

Did you notice Santa in his sleigh? Turns out he ended up bringing up the rear so we weren’t the very last after all. Do you see now why I love where I live so much? It’s beautiful and filled with such great people.

All that parading around left us hungry. Thankfully we had some of this fresh cranberry brown-sugar bread left for us. It’s really, really good. Especially if you make a grilled cheese using slices of brie! { <——- Seriously…do that} It’s a quick bread – and there’s a reason they’re called “quick”. Mix up the batter, toss in the cranberries and bake. Couldn’t be easier. The brown sugar sprinkled on the top is a must. It will be your favorite part for sure.

I like to wrap some parchment paper around it and add a ribbon for Christmas gifts, too. I hear Santa likes it, too :-)