Christmas Traditions

As Christmas approaches, I want to record some of our family's traditions.

1. We give each of our children an ornament (which they open on Christmas Eve) that represents the year. ie. Josh is really into Sign Language this year so his ornament is the I love you sign in ASL with his name on it. We also get a family ornament for the year (ie. if we go on vacation, we get the ornament there to remind us of that experience together). When the kids leave home someday, they take all of their ornaments and we keep the family ones. My parents did this for us and I love that I still have meaningful ornaments from my childhood on our tree. 2. We have a basket of Christmas books (some religious, some not) and we pick one every night to read before bed in December. I've heard of some people wrapping them to make it more fun. I haven't done this but I'm thinking about it. We usually get one new Christmas book to add to the collection each year. 3. We have an advent called the "Canned Tree" which is 12 cans stacked on top of one another, the largest on the bottom, all decorated with Christmas paper. Under each can, there is a poem (written by my grandma) with something to go with it (ie. gold chocolate coins to go with the poem about the wise men, candy canes to go with the one about the shepherds, since they look like the shepherd's canes). 4. We pick a family (or two) to serve. 5. We drive around looking at Christmas lights and listening to Christmas music. 6. The kids open two presents on Christmas Eve (new PJs and the new Christmas book). We read Luke Chapter 2 from the Bible. 7. We try not to put a lot of focus on Santa so we only have Santa fill stockings at our house (with candy and small gifts). 8. Grandma Utah got us "Soft Enough for a King," which we're starting tomorrow night for Family Night. The idea is to record acts of service on pieces of paper ("straw) and put them in a manger and on Christmas Eve lay baby Jesus on top. I love this idea. 9. We always walk around the Mesa Arizona Temple and look at the Christmas lights. They are amazing! 10. I love sending out Christmas cards. It's time consuming but receiving them is one of my favorite parts of the season. I enjoy sharing pieces of our family's year with our friends and family. 

I'm excited to celebrate Christmas with you this year. You're at the age where you get it and you're so excited about it. I can't wait to see your cute little face on Christmas morning.