Christmas Traditions

So I had so much going on this week that by Friday I just wanted it to all go away. So I sat and thought about my favorite Christmas traditions. Christmas is my most favorite holiday (or maybe tied with 4th of July, but it probably wins) and I love traditions so much, so of course, Christmas traditions would be my most favorite things. 

So this is NOT a picture of what my home growing up looked like at Christmas TIme. But as I was looking at pictures, this is what it felt like to me. Beautiful Christmas tree next to a glowing fireplace. All I need is a cup of hot chocolate and I'm set. Maybe if I'm in the mood I'll throw snow into the picture because a white Christmas truly is beautiful. But one of my favorite traditions was decorating the Christmas tree and then we would set up sleeping bags or blankets and make a bed for us to sleep under it the first night it was decorated. Once the family got bigger we didn't fit anymore, and sleeping on hard wood floors became uncomfortable so we stopped doing that, but I still love it. I will probably even do it with my children when we actually get a tree :)

Decorating the house is a favorite tradition too. We did it all together as a family for FHE. We all dug through the boxes to find our favorite decorations and then put them in the same place they are every year. That was part of the tradition, remembering where everything went. I had lots of favorite decorations but I think my favorite was a wind up ice skate rink that played music like a snow globe and there was an ice skater with a magnet that skated around the rink and even did circles. It was magical to watch.

Another favorite thing to do was setting up the Christmas Village in the entry way. I loved putting each store in the right place and each person where I wanted them. 

Beside decorating, a favorite tradition is going to the Mesa Temple Christmas Lights on Christmas Eve. We are usually coming from a family Christmas party and its usually freezing cold (although it's not Utah freezing so it can't be that cold) and late at night and we just want to get home but as I've gotten older it has become one of my favorite traditions and it doesn't feel quite like Christmas with out it. This year I want to go see the SLC lights before we get down to Mesa so we can get both in :)

Mesa Temple

 

SLC Temple

More favorite traditions are eating Mima's butterscotch candies, opening pj's on Christmas Eve, throwing ping pong balls through Santa's mouth, and family, family, family! I am so grateful for ALLLLL my family and cant wait to be around them for Christmas this year!