To say that my Family has Holiday Traditions in place,
wouldn't be exactly true. There are
things we want to do and haven’t been able to do. The last few years, my Family and I have been
living in limbo away from everyone. We
have had to travel long distance to celebrate the Holidays and not stay in our
own home, quite often. One year we had a
baby and ended up in another state staying at a Ronald McDonald house for the Holidays. So to suggest that we have developed any kind
of Traditions yet, would be no.
Last year for Christmas and New Year, we stayed up North and
didn't travel and really made the time special with our Kids. Both of their Birthdays are in the week
leading up to Christmas. This is an
additional blessing and challenge.
However this year, we have moved back down close to all of our friends
and family and will not have to travel and stay anywhere other than our own
home!
This week I am getting our home prepped, scrubbed and ready
to decorate for the Holidays.
Thanksgiving is coming upon us and we will be celebrating all through
the weekend. This year I get to actually
cook and bring food to the Thanksgiving Dinner.
For me this is special and fun. I
really do love to cook and prepare food for those I love. I started out only offering to bring one side
dish but that has since multiplied to several.
In Boise, this weekend there is the Festival of Trees done
by St. Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.
This event is something to take your family too and enjoy. There is so much to do and see!. We try to go every time we have been here in
Boise and yes we are going this year.
Last year the line to see Santa was extremely long, and even though they
had crafts and games for the Kids while they waited, it was just too long to
wait. So this year, I got an idea to
make sure my Kids get to see Santa at this event. I bought tickets to the Breakfast with Santa
event! Oh everyone is so excited and even
Grandparents are coming with us.
Yes on
Black Friday when others are shopping, I will be having Breakfast with Santa
and my family! Afterwards we will spend
the day, at the Festival of Tree’s watching performances and seeing all of the
beautifully decorated trees.
Later we will have our Day after Thanksgiving Dinner with my
Husband’s family where we will sit and feast on a seafood specialty,
cioppino. This has become somewhat of a Tradition
and a lot of fun. Breaking crab legs,
dipping bread in the cioppino, laughing and enjoying the special time together
as family and the good food is what this time is all about.
Saturday, I plan to try to hit a few stores to do some
Christmas Shopping. I am happy to say
that my Husband and I have already been shopping and storing gifts away the
last couple of months! I really just want
to hang out at the mall with my Family and see the decorations and pick up a
few things that may be on sale.
Sunday is going to be a new Tradition for our Family and one
I am very excited about. First my Kids
and Husband love it when we have Sunday Family Movie Day and I set up a veggie
tray, a fruit tray and cheese tray with meat of some kind. So we are combining our Family Movie Day with
decorating our Christmas Tree and home! I
will have egg not and hot cocoa too for everyone. My Husband and I can add in some Southern
Comfort to our egg nog. ;) However this
is going to be a special day and a Tradition I hope to start and keep going for
us.
My Husband and I got a cute idea this year and who knows it
may evolve into a Tradition we keep. I
had purchased these great fuzzy warm slippers for our Kids recently and put
them away for Christmas. Nathan, my Hubby,
thought it might be a good idea to let our children open this gift on Christmas
Eve. I realized that it did sound like a
nice idea and this way, the Kids will wake up and have something to put on
their feet to keep them warm on Christmas morning. Plus they are getting to open up a present
the night before Christmas. This isn’t
something huge or fancy but it is something special.
On Christmas Eve, the Kids leave cookies and milk for Santa
and a carrot for the reindeer, with a note. When the Kids wake up, the cookies will be gone except for crumbs, the milk will have been drunk and the carrot will have been half eaten. This is something my Husband’s Parents taught my son and I absolutely
love it. This is a Tradition we have
kept up and will do so for as long as our Kids wish.
Then on Christmas morning, we open presents and eat a
delicious breakfast. Yes the Parents are
drinking lots of coffee to keep up with the excited Kids. Later in the day we will head out for
Christmas Dinner. This year we are
headed to my Husband’s Parents home for the dinner. We try to see everyone and split time during
the Holidays to see both sides of our Families.
Sometimes we even get everyone together at once.
There are other Traditions and things we may do. We have our Kids Birthdays both in December,
the week leading up to Christmas. This
adds a whole other dimension to our celebrations. It isn’t easy finding a balance when I don’t
burn myself out trying to keep everyone happy and involved. My Kids this year will be turning 2yrs old
and 7 yrs old.
From Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day, there is a whole lot of
celebrating going on in our home. We
have much to be thankful for and much to celebrate. Though I miss those who have passed away and
are no longer with us this Holiday season, I celebrate the Holidays in honor of
them knowing it is what they would want.
I know how special this time of year was to all of my Grandparents. I miss them and cherish each memory. I hope to pass on such wonderful memories to
my own Children and someday Grandchildren too.
We are a young family and developing our own Traditions
while bringing in a few of the ones we grew up with. It can be a lot of fun, if you let it
be. Don’t let missing out on a Tradition
bring you down during the Holidays. Traditions
are not supposed to be a burden or something to bring on added stress. Instead let a Tradition bring back happy
memories and the hope and joy of new memories to come.
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