We have a lot of Christmas traditions that we have established as a family over the last few years. Some of them are traditions we had before we got married and some of them go way back to when we were kids. Here are some of our traditions.
Our stockings- we don't have a fireplace in this house so our stockings are hung on a wall under a picture of Christ. I like that we hang them there because it reminds us of the fun but also the real meaning of Christmas. Each one of our stockings has history behind it. Far left is Connors, his is the smallest and ti's special because my Grandma Lutz sent it to him on his very first Christmas. Second from the left is Corey's his is not as fancy but it matches mine. We got Corey's stocking two days before his first Christmas because we realized he was the only one who did not have one. Terence's stocking is the third one in. It was made (I think) by his Mom when he was a baby and he has been using it ever since. My family growing up never had stockings and it was not a significant part of Christmas. One year when Terence and I were dating my Christmas gift was my stocking that Terence had filled with all kinds of different things. People always assume when they see ours that Terence's is the biggest so it's fun to tell the story of how I actually got it.
This is an advent calendar that Terence had as a kid. We have been using it since we got married and now the boys LOVE taking turns putting a figure onto the calendar as we count down the days till Christmas. The last three days are always Santa's sled, Mrs. Claus and then of course Santa.
Our Christmas village. This is something that always reminds me of my Oma. I never had village at home growing up but my Oma had one and I always loved it. One year after Christmas we were shopping with her and my Aunts and saw the houses on sale for 90% off. We bought a couple and have added to our collection ever since. Since we have lived in this house we leave our village up year round because it fills the space on top of the cabinets nicely. We don't turn it on year round though. I love the way it looks lit up, just a peaceful sleepy little village.
Our Christmas Tree. Yes I know everyone has a Christmas tree but I love how much tradition we have with ours. Every ornament on our tree has a story. A reason it is there. A lot of them are from our family ornament exchange. Others have been acquired from various people or for various reasons over the years. My favorite ornament this year is the paper one that Connor made at school. He was so proud to hang it on the tree and kept moving it to different spots to get a better view of it. This year we actually had to get a bigger tree because we were running out of room.
Looking at Christmas lights. I don't have a picture to represent this but every year we take a trip out to go look at Christmas lights. I love listening to the boys talk to us and each other as the look at the lights. Connor was inspired this year after we looked at the lights and decided he wanted to come home and watch how the Grinch stole Christmas.
I love our Christmas traditions and look forward to the new ones we will create as our kids get older in the years to come.
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