Traditions

Since we are far from family every year at Christmas we have tried to come up with some special traditions to make Christmas a bit more special for the kids. We used to make a Christmas chain which had an activity to do every night leading up to Christmas. We did things such as making snowmen out of paper plates, making snowflakes to put on our windows, singing karaoke, making reindeer antlers to wear, etc. It worked really well the first couple of years we tried it. The kids loved it and looked forward to it each night.


Unfortunately, as the kids grow up, their schedules just don't allow for the nightly Christmas activities. Jason and I have tried to come up with some lasting things that we can do for the kids to create good memories that we can still find time for. Each year we add new things and take away the things that just don't work.

So what are the lasting things that have worked every year?

1. Gingerbread houses. We (maybe it is I) always have found the time to decorate gingerbread houses. I love it, Jason could do without it, and the kids are still to be determined. (pictures are on a previous post).

2. Ornament stories. The kids love this tradition. We gather in front of our tree and we takes turns telling a story or two or three (we each add on to the story). Each of us has to use one ornament in our part of the story. As you can imagine, the story always takes weird turns and twists and ends up pretty funny (sometimes more than others). These two ornaments are ones (we each buy one new ornament a year) that Jason picked a couple of years in a row. As you can imagine, they always end up in the story somehow.

3. Christmas eve movie. Every Christmas eve we go to a movie. This year we went to the new Narnia movie. We highly recommend it (if you like this kind of movie or the books, which we love).
4. Christmas eve PJ's. I'm sure every family in the US has this same tradition. I used to make the kids PJ's every year. As they have grown and required more fabric I have come to realize that it is much cheaper and less labor intensive to buy the silly things at the store. (I did have to alter Bree's because they didn't have her size, but that was pretty easy). Josh's could have used some altering too apparently:)

Funny enough, we forgot to open them this year on Christmas eve.

5. Bingo. We got this idea from a friend and the kids loved it so much they insist on doing it every Christmas eve. (My parents were here a couple of years ago and seemed to like it too). I always buy tons of little trinkets (just what we need around Christmas huh), and candy and wrap them all up. I add some money to some of the presents which is always enticing to the kids too. Whenever someone wins they get to pick out a present to open. When my parents were here we found a deluxe bingo machine on clearance and just had to have it. I'm sure we'll get years of use from it.

6. We also love taking one night to drive around looking at lights as I'm sure everyone out there does. Our favorite house plays music and their lights flash to the beat of the music. Pretty cool.

7. Of course we end our Christmas eve night with scriptures of Christ's birth. It is the best way to go to bed and find peace in the season.

Now the newest addition to our traditions is this: Instead of putting names on the presents, I put an answer to some riddle. (see below)

Then on Christmas morning, as we take turns opening the presents, I hand the person their question to answer (they each have their own piles of questions to answer) (see below). Then they have to dig through the presents to find the answer to the riddle. It was actually really fun and it made opening presents last a bit longer and gave it just a bit of excitement. Another benefit is that the kids can't shake their presents before hand to try and figure out what is in it because they don't know what presents are theirs. It takes a bit of forethought and preparation, but it was well worth the effort.