Christmas Traditions

My family has many Christmas traditions. Old or new, the holidays just aren't the same without them. Some of my favorites?

Christmas Movies

Every year we watch Christmas Vacation and Elf together as a family and laugh until our stomachs are sore. I don't care to watch movies repeatedly, but for some reason these two never get old.

My sister and I could probably quote this entire movie

Wrapping Gifts

Gift wrapping is a huge ordeal in our home. At the moment, we have about 15 different rolls of wrapping paper from Hobby Lobby - it's by far the best quality - super thick and makes clean lines. We buy tons of gift tags and decorative ribbons, bows, and embellishments and spend hours on the presentation of the gifts. Towards the end, we just feel like slapping a bow on it and calling it a day...but it's so worth waking up to the sight of beautiful packages on Christmas morning!

Lights at Rhema

It's been difficult to find a time that works for our entire family the past few years, but we've got a date set next week to attend Church on the Move's Celebrate with Family service and take in the Lights at Rhema afterwards. Each year the display is a little different, but my favorite never seems to change: the lights at the entrance set to Christmas music. There's nothing like bundling up, sipping hot chocolate and taking in a million twinkling lights!

Aaron, Macee and I under the tunnel

Christmas Eve PJs 

We started a new tradition a few years ago. Macee always begged to open a gift on Christmas Eve as a kid, and as a grown-up she finally got her wish! We all open Christmas pajamas from "Santa" after coming home from my Grandma and Papa's house. Climbing into bed in our new pj's gets us excited for Christmas morning!

 Last year Macee and I got matching pj's, complete with slippers. The thermals kept us nice and toasty that night! Aaron, however, hates being toasty...Santa usually brings him new house shoes.

Christmas Morning...Before the Presents

As a kid, Macee would wake me up nearly every hour asking me if it was "time" yet. I always told her when the sun came up, it was time. Needless to say, it was difficult to keep us waiting on Christmas morning, but mom and dad always read us the Christmas story from the Bible before we opened presents. We do that to this day, over a cup of homemade cocoa, and pray to thank God for his amazing gift to us. I love that we start the day off with the right perspective and shift the focus away from the gifts. While they're amazing, they're not the point.

I'm looking forward to keeping these traditions alive with our future children. What are some of your favorite traditions?