Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions and I think they are such a great way to get into the holiday spirit!  I can't help but think of the Fiddler on the Roof "Tradition" song :) So today I thought I would share a few of our family's Christmas traditions, as well as a few that I've been reading about, and I hope to hear about some of yours as well.

Growing up, there are several traditions that stand out to me.

  First, a tradition with my siblings.

We loved this.  We kept secret who had who so it was always a surprise.  Drawing names was something we chose to do because there were six kids, and so it was more fun to be able to focus on one special thing you could get for a brother or sister.

Another tradition I remember doing every year with my siblings -

We loved it so much - we would stay up and listen to Christmas music, talk, and fight over who got to sleep where until we heard sleigh bells (courtesy of mom and dad) outside, then we would all lay down and try to go to sleep as quickly as possible!

Dave and I have started one of our own traditions:

Dave and I are excited to have Kate along for the adventure this year!  The more the merrier!

Dave's family has a fun tradition that we participated in last year:

Each person makes their own gingerbread house, and they do it on a huge foil-covered piece of cardboard.  Dave's dad always made the church, and last year we had a little friendly competition to see who could build the tallest structure :)  They leave it out as a Christmas decoration until Christmas Eve, and then they let the kids smash it and eat the candy.  Lots of fun.

Here are a few fun traditions I've been reading about and am thinking to adding to our own!

On Christmas Eve you unwrap the scriptures and read the account of Christ's birth.  This tradition was shared by Melissa - to read more, click here!

Jean shared some fun ideas about Elf on a Shelf - to learn more, click here!

The first Friday in December you have "Elf Night" - the kids write their letters to Santa, and in the night, the elves come and get them and take them to Santa.  To read more about this tradition shared by Diane Roscoe, click here!

And finally, another of my own (and I'm sure many of you do the same) -

Because we must not forget what the season is really all about.  I have some wonderful memories of this from growing up.  I'm not sure why everyone always seemed to fight over who got to be the donkey . . .

Hooray for Christmas traditions that bring our families closer together - do you have any favorites that you'd like to share?  Please do!

For more fun ideas, check it out: