Traditions

It seems like Christmas is the holiday in our family that has the most traditions attached to it. Some of our traditions come from things we did when I was a kid and some things we have added since we have had our own kids. One of the traditions that we started when the kids were little is this Christmas countdown calendar that my mom made for them. All the fabric stars button around the outside border of the wall hanging and each day the kids button one onto the tree. I thought for sure as they got older this would lose some of it's thrill, but even this year, they wake up in the morning and one of their first questions is "who's turn to add the star to the tree?"

Last night we started something that we hope will become a tradition. We had a family PJ party. Larry rented a few Christmas movies and bought some snacks and we all slept in the living room and watched movies. We had a great time. The kids all thanked us for doing it this morning. Being so far from family and giving up so many of our traditions made it important to start some new ones.

Lasagna on Christmas Eve is another favorite of the holidays. My mom always made lasagna for Christmas Eve and I use her same recipe. My sister and brother do the same.

We always read the story of the Nativity from Luke chpt 2 on Christmas eve before we go to bed. Larry and I began collecting Nativity sets several years ago and try to add to our collection every year. These are some of the ways we try to keep the true meaning of the holiday at the forefront.