Traditionally Speaking

What are your family's traditions? To add.. as a child and/or as an adult and not just at Christmas.

I love family traditions, I feel that it brings a sense of continuity and history to my family. I do not really have many traditions that are not involved with Christmas, so I will focus just on the Christmas season. It starts with Christmas shopping. Every November, before Thanksgiving, I take a day off work and my mom and I go shopping in Salt Lake. We do not go anywhere in particular, just to the shops that strike our fancy at the time. Typically we end up at Spoons & Spice buying tea, sometimes we hit the London Market for Wine Gums and Malteasers. We almost always do Trolley Square. Regardless, we have a great time, a nice lunch together, and usually manage to get most of our shopping done. After Thanksgiving my mom, my oldest, and I go see the Nutcracker by Ballet West at Weber State. I never tire of this ballet and for my daughter it is a new experience every time as she always finds out new things that she did not realize about the story or performance. I am very excited to have two girls going next year!

I have started a tradition of having my daughter help me with the Christmas decorations, putting up the tree, the advent calendars, etc. This year we strung lights from floor to ceiling in our bay window and put up a small tree since we have the baby rolling around and the kitten. Typically a week before Christmas my daughter and my mom make sugar cookies together, which we put out for Santa. Around this time D and I try to find a day to do Christmas shopping together. I love it when we do this, as we hardly ever shop together. Sometime during this time frame we go look at the lights at Christmas Village. On Christmas Eve I we go to church in the evening, now that we have kids it is the early service where the minister reads a Christian themed Christmas story for the kids instead of doing a sermon. We always close the services with the lights off and lit candles singing Silent Night to just the guitar. It brings me to tears every year. After we get home from church, we open one present (pajamas), we put out cookies, milk, and carrots for Santa and the reindeer. I read "The Night Before Christmas" and "The Three Trees" to my daughter. After she is in bed D and I light a fire, make some popcorn, cuddle up and watch "It's a Wonderful Life"...no matter how late we have to stay up!

In the morning, we take turns opening presents, then have breakfast of a German pancake, bacon or sausage, and oranges. For dinner we typically go to my moms, then on to D's family side later since they are all night owls.