Traditions

I love traditions. Especially our Christmas traditions. I thought would be fun to list a few of the things we do year after year.

Christmas 2009

Missing Jordan and Grandpa

Christmas Eve:

For dinner we have clam chowder in bread bowls. In the last few years we have added fondue to our dinner. It's been cheese fondue in the past, but this year we are having chocolate. I recently got a fondue pot and can't wait to use it! I have all sorts of fun things to dip in chocolate.

I rearrange the presents under the tree and make it look nice for Christmas morning.

Dad reads the Christmas story out of the Bible.

We open our Christmas Eve present.

All of us kids sleep in the same room. It's funny that we still do the same things we did when we were little. I'm sure it will change when we have kids of our own, but for now, we do what we have always done.

Christmas Day:

Once everyone is awake, we see what we got in our stockings and open our "Santa" gift. Then we usually have breakfast. Every year we have grapefruit and pigs in a blanket. I'm not a huge fan of grapefruit, but I eat it Christmas morning because that's just what we do.

Then we continue opening presents. Everyone goes around the circle and we open them one at a time. Yes, it takes hours, but it's fun to see what everyone gets.

Christmas dinner is ham, Christmas potatoes (a version of funeral potatoes), Grandma's shrimp salad, Grandma's broccoli casserole, veggie tray, and rolls. The menu is the same every year and I love it!

Other:

We always have a real tree. Every year we usually go up to the cabin and cut down our tree. It's always an adventure. Whether we got a late start in the day and it's dark when we are cutting the tree, or there isn't enough snow for snowmobiles so 7 of us pile on the 4 wheeler, or there is too much snow and we sink to our thighs trying to find the perfect tree. I have so many great memories of getting Christmas trees. The last couple years we haven't been able to go to the forest to cut down our tree, but it's never been fake.

Watching Christmas Vacation is a must. It hits way to close to home :)

My favorite of Mom's Christmas decorations is the Christmas village. I love that I have painted some of the houses in the village. I also love that Mom has had the same Christmas decorations my whole life.

I don't do well with change. I love our traditions. I'm sure we will keep many of the ones I grew up with, but I can't wait to start some of our own with our family.