Christmas Traditions

I LOVE Christmas! And with that - I LOVE Christmas traditions! I love the oldies that we've been doing year after year and I love the new ones we make with our family each year.

Here are some of our family's Christmas traditions...

1.) Family Christmas Cookie Day. When I was a kid my grandma, my aunt, my cousins, my mom and myself used to get together for a cookie bake off always the week before Christmas! It was a BLAST! I just remember my grandma's tiny kitchen being jam-packed with flour, eggs, baking soda, peanut butter, chocolate chips and sugar covered over everything that would stand still! It was such a great time and some of my sweetest memories are of us in that kitchen!

2.) Birthday Cake for Jesus. This is something that Chloe has really enjoyed the last couple years. She especially enjoys the decorative touches!

3.) Christmas Prayer Links. This is something we started a couple years ago. We take green and red construction paper and make a prayer link (you know the links you used to make as a kid?). We put the name of someone we want to pray for on each link and then take the days leading up to Christmas to pray for each and every individual name on the links. It's a neat way to keep the focus away from ourselves and on other people we love and care about.

4.) Snowflakes. We make home-made snowflakes and hang them up from our kitchen ceiling. Chloe's gotten into the habit of then naming all of her snowflakes. :)

5.) Christmas picture. We've done this every year since Chloe's been born. We take her picture (or of all three of us if it works out) next to our decorated Christmas tree to send in our Christmas cards to our friends and family. Then we frame the picture and put them out on display during the Christmas holiday.

6.) Christmas Tree decorating night. Every year our Christmas tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving. No exceptions. As we decorate the tree, we ALWAYS watch Christmas Vacation. It's just what we watch! ALWAYS!

7.) Mama's House Sleepover. For years we used to stay the night at my mother-in-law's the night before Christmas Eve. We did this from the time Chloe was born (the year my father-in-law passed away) until about 2 years ago. Hey mom - we need to continue that tradition... we're coming over this year! :)

8.) Sleigh Ride. Every Christmas Eve since I was a KID, we've gone out to look at Christmas lights around town. In recent years, we've added a twist to this old time favorite... we bundle up in coats, hats, scarfs and gloves, pack a thermos of hot cocoa, get in the car and drive around looking at lights WITH THE WINDOWS ROLLED DOWN! This is particularly fun when it's snowing... kind of feels like you're strolling in a carriage ride through the snow!

9.) Thank You Letters. Every year I sit down days before Christmas and write individual letters to my family members. My daughter, my husband and my parents. I thank them for being in my life and tell them what they mean to me. I highlight memories I have with them over that year and just simply take the time to tell them how much I love them. Then I hide them in the tree for them to find on Christmas morning.

Those are some of our family's Christmas traditions... what are some of yours???