Traditions...

I thought as to celebrate the 1st day of this glorious month, I would share some of my favorite traditions, and traditions that I love that other's have. Emery and I are just beginning to establish some of our own, and it is SO FUN!

Tradition from the Tales Girls:
To help the excitement in your home for Christmas, wrap 24 Christmas books, and put them under the tree. Alternate your kids choosing a book, and let them unwrap it. Then read it to them. The books can be about Christ, or about Christmas in general. To see the original tradition holders blog about this topic, go HERE.

Tradition from my best fried, Erin:
To keep the spirit of Christ in your home, and alleviate the non-stop push for commercialism, Erin decided that she was going to establish a gift giving system. She has established the 'Wise Men Gift Giving' strategy. Every member in her family gets three gifts. An outfit, a wonderful book, and a toy/present that they wanted. They also receive there stocking filled with fun and memorable things. Awesome idea Erin, mind if I steal it???

Tradition in the West Family (mi madre y padre):
Days until Christmas: Mom has traditionally made a candle with 24 numbers on it to melt down until Christmas eve. We would usually read a Christmas story, or the scriptures each night to burn down the number. We also always do the 12 days of Christmas to families in the ward or in the stake. That is so fun, as we used to get caught by some really sneaky old ladies!!! : )

Christmas Eve: Dad cooks Pasta Ala Carbonada (from his mission in Italy) and we have a shrimp drink that my Nana created. Mom always chills cherry 7-up in the freezer, and that is something I will always remember. We usually invite widow's or widowers over to celebrate with us, if they don't have family to be with. Mom always has pajamas for each of us to open (now there is spouses and grandkids too!) and we always read in Luke the story of Christ's birth, and have a Nativity.

Christmas Day: All five kids would jump into mom and dad's bed so dad could go check to see if 'Santa' had come! He would come in and with a whisper say, "He's been here!" Mom and dad would always line us up, youngest to oldest and we would walk backwards into the front room, and then they would tell us to turn around to see what 'Santa' brought. The gifts from Santa would be unwrapped and somewhere in the room. What a delight that was! I was so heartbroken when the youngest stopped remembering to believe... after presents were open, we would then go check on our stockings. Mom would make orange rolls, and we would have orange rolls and egg nog. What a fun tradition. Grandma West used to have a brunch at her home with 'grits and little hot dog's' (that's what everyone always looked forward too!) All the cousins would get together, and have a blast exchanging gifts.

The Layton Family (Emery's mom and dad):
One tradition that Emery remembers is that there family would get a Christmas tree that was just growing in a pot. They would decorate it, and after Christmas was over, they would plant it on their property. He still remembers digging into the cold frozen ground sometimes, to plant the tree! What a fun tradition!

Emery and I look forward to celebrating Christmas this year, and hope that as we start our family, our own traditions will live forever in the hearts of our children!

Share some of your traditions with us!

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