This is Life: Traditions Old & New

One thing I love about Christmas is traditions. Growing up we always had the tradition of going down to the French Quarter on Christmas Eve and getting lunch at a nice restaurant, followed by the Christmas Eve service at church and opening one present before going to bed. We also had the tradition that every Christmas Eve my sisters and I would pile in like sardines and sleep in of our single beds so we could all go down Christmas morning at the same time. Additionally, my older sister Jenn would make us all drink a tall glass of water so that we would wake up in the middle of the night and have to go to the bathroom, at which point we would also sneak downstairs and see what Santa had brought us the night before. In Derek's family, they would always go out to eat Chinese on Christmas Eve, as well as make the "Cinnamon Bun Christmas Tree" on Christmas morning.

Since the family has expanded with spouses and kids, we have adopted new Christmas traditions that I love, Love, LOVE!!! The favorite on my side of the family is
Handmade Christmas, in which we draw name for gifts and have to make that person a created "something" by hand. It is always a highlight of our celebration to see who drew who, as well as what they made for that person. This year we started a new tradition of re-enacting the Nativity Story. We each had a role to play, dressed up in costumes, and acted out the birth of Jesus while reading the passage from Luke 2. It was quite a hoot to say the least...

The Inn Keeper & Baby Jesus

A Wiseman & Hutson the Sheep

Christian the Cow

Shepherds & A Donkey

The Star in the Sky & Another Wiseman

Mary (minus Joseph who was Derek) & The Angel

Jenn gave me this AMAZING Advent calendar to take with us to Bundibugyo

I gave Parker personalized stationary

Parker gave Jenn an awesome dry erase wall calendar AND wood-block family picture

Dad gave Ryan wood shelves to organize his storage shed

Emily gave Mom a really pretty quilted Advent Calendar to hang on the wall

And Mom gave Emily a trendy knitted shrug

*not pictured was Ryan's gift to me (a photobook of our blog from the 2012), and Derek's gift to Dad (a large canvas picture of our family at Thanksgiving)

On Derek's side of the family, we decided this year to exchange photo books in lieu of gifts, a prospect that I am voting will begin a new tradition. Since we are all spread out across the country, it's much more special for our kids to get pictures of their cousins and relatives throughout the year than it is to receive a gift. It creates a wonderful chronicle of what God has done in each of our families throughout the year. Additionally, this was the 3rd year that we had Derek's mom come visit at or around Christmas-time, and it has been such a joy to share this special time with her. This was the first year that Lucy could comprehend ahead of time that "Grammie is coming!" and she has looked forward to it for weeks. We will have her with us for a few more days, but so far it has been a fun-filled time of laughter and making memories.

What are some of your Christmas traditions?

I have no idea what our traditions will look like this time next year when we are in Bundi, but I am sure they will make some wonderful memories our girls will hold onto for years to come...

And just because I need to record this memory, here it is: tonight while putting Lucy down for bed she wanted me to sing "the manger" song (Away In a Manger). This was her favorite carol from this year because it told a story that she could act out while we sung it. After singing it (for the 5th time in a row) tonight, I told her she could talk some more to Jesus while she lay in bed because he was looking down on her just like the stars in the sky looked down where He lay. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment {as if looking for Him}, then pointed, and said,

"Oh! There He is! Mommy, wook! Hi, Jesus {waving}"

What was she pointing to?

The video monitor on the wall :)

That girl is pretty smart, and

I love her.