Christmas Traditions...

Someone asked me recently what my favorite Christmas tradition was? It started me thinking about what "traditions" we currently have and if there are any I might want to add...hum.....

The things we do each year without fail include:

1. Christmas "Eve" dinner at my parent's house. (sometimes this falls on the 23rd) Its been the same for my entire life. Although the location has changed from my grandmother's house to my mother's house now, its still roughly the same. Its my family, my uncle's family and my grandmother - now that all the cousins are getting married and having kids - I think we are up to 18 people? Everyone dresses up nice, we have a big formal dinner, then the craziness of opening presents begins! We all take family pictures each year. Everyone grumbles about it, but you know, I truly value those pictures. Its so fun to go back through the years and see basically the same "family pose" each each and see how the family has grown or changed, whether it be the birth of a child, the addition of a new spouse, etc. I don't think I realized just HOW MUCH I valued those pictures until I had kids of my own. Generally, they aren't great pictures of EVERYONE (although it HAS happened before) because we are usually trying to hurry because of a squirming child! Here are a few from over the years:

2003 - when Beth was 9 months old:

(Don't know what happened to the 2004 picture!)

2005 -I was pregnant with Sarah:

2006 - Sarah was 8 months old

2. Last year - we started this one:

Each year on Christmas Eve, we gift the girls matching Christmas PJ's and then they curl up with Bob and he reads them The Night Before Christmas, then we put out milk and cookies for Santa and then its off to bed!

3. Christmas Morning has also been relatively the SAME for me, since I can remember, regardless of WHERE it was, with the exception of one year that I can remember. It generally consists of waking up and waiting till everyone was awake. Then we go into the living room and the kids check out Santa gifts and then we open our family gifts. Its just us and its wonderful! We eat the same thing each Christmas morning - powdered donuts...and Sister Schubert Sausage biscuits (and it was Sausage balls when I was growing up). The rest of the day is usually different each year, but that morning tradition means the world to me!

2005 - Beth checking out her stocking!

2006:

4. And at some point during the 2-3 day Christmas festivities, we head over to Bob's family's house and have Christmas there, too! His mom makes some killer cheese dip with sausage that I look forward to each year!

My Sister-in-Law, Becky, and Beth in 2003:

My nephew, Chase, and Sarah in 2006:

What is your favorite tradition?