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Monday, November 19, 2012

Christmas Traditions



So as we prepare to move back to CA I've been thinking a lot about Christmas traditions we get to celebrate with our families, as well as perhaps creating our own. There are a few adorable little traditions that mine and my husband's family do that I will always continue but I want to start some special ones of our own; so here's a little list of traditions I will pass on and start anew!

* On Christmas Eve my husband's family one by one puts their Christmas Wish Lists in the fire.  The idea is that as the ashes float up they will drift to the North Pole and magically reform for Santa to see.

* Opening one present on Christmas Eve (which is always pajamas, of course! and THESE are what I want this year)

* Reading the Nativity story from the Bible

*Making my mom's famous Cheese Ball and gifting them to friends.

* The Oborn Christmas Chime Extravaganza.  I don't know if this one really needs an explanation.



* By far, my all time favorite tradition from my youth is chopping down our own Christmas tree. Every Christmas until I was twenty (and I'm the youngest) we would drive up into the Sierra Nevada foothills and cut our own tree from the many tree farms.  It was always beautiful and cold and fun traipsing through the woods with my brothers.  My parents now have a fake tree, and Sean's parents usually buy theirs from a lot, and our little family has spent the last three Christmases with one or the other but as soon as I can I will be reinstating the "cut your own tree" policy in our little family.

And new traditions to start....

* The Christmas Pickle (hide the pickle, or maybe this little guy, in the Christmas tree and whoever finds it gets a special surprise)

* A special advent calendar - my favorites are this punch board because I have boys and they love anything destructive, this one with boxes filled with family activities, and this one with a craft or ornament for each day.

* I love the idea of the Elf on the Shelf  to bring some magic into Christmas.  I think Bannock is finally old enough to appreciate the story and it would be fun to start a tradition while the boys are really little so as they grow up they can't remember a time when we didn't do it (you know what I mean?).
Also, See Jane Blog is doing the Elf on the Shelf Giveaway and it is amazing - such an awesome idea and if I don't win I might just have to do it myself!

1 comment:

  1. CHRISTMAS BELLS!!! Can't wait to do it again! Love you all so much!!

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