Christmas Traditions

I love the traditions of my childhood and I am enjoying passing those traditions on to my children. And of course, establishing new traditions in my own home. Here are some traditions from my childhood that I am passing on to my children:

We always got a new pair of pajamas on Christmas Eve before bed. This year I sent my kids down to get their PJ's on and they were amazed that new pajamas had "magically" appeared on their beds! It was fun to play Santa's advocate.

On Christmas Eve, after a Family Home Evening lesson with the account of the Savior's birth in Luke 2, we always played board games, had a fire in the fireplace, and ate goodies. It is such a cozy memory. We did that this year as well. We taught the kids how to play Sorry and it was so much fun to play it with them now that they get how! What a fun age!

This Christmas we also discovered the magic of "The Polar Express" with children who truly believe. We discovered how much fun it is to get gifts for our children and help them pick out gifts for one another. It was fun to decorate Christmas cookies and have a game night with friends.

Other traditions include a dramatic reading of "The Grinch," and coffee cake for breakfast on Christmas morning. Everyone stays in their pajamas all day long, right? It was so fun to watch the kids go from one new treasure to the next all day. Audrey looked like she really wanted to just roll in the piles of wrapping paper all over the floor...that paper looked so TASTY!

The kids received so many fun and thoughtful and generous gifts: Hungry Hungry Hippos was the request of choice from Santa (Whew! That was only $13!). The kids also got nerf guns, new gloves, new coats and shirts and pants and socks, Build-a-Bear stuffed animals from a secret Santa, books, coloring books, puzzles, and so much more! I got some new kitchen items including a scale, new silverware and Chris got me a dock for my iPod! I suppose my new haircut counts as a Christmas gift as well. I am one step closer to being back to my original hair color. Oh yeah, and Chris himself installed a new (used), WORKING, and free dishwasher for me on Christmas Eve! I love having a dishwasher again! And I thought on a new budget, we would be having a simple Christmas.... Not so! We are too blessed!