Traditions

As the holiday season is approaching, I've been thinking about traditions. When I found out I was expecting Princess E, I soon began thinking about establishing holiday traditions with her. I don't remember my childhood being full of traditions other than the standard leaving cookies for Santa. I wanted that to be different for her.

Thanksgiving kicks off the holiday season for us. Last year I began the tradition of taking a picture of Ed and Princess E making the turkey. She loves getting in there and helping season it. We had our Thanksgiving dinner yesterday with Elliott and Eric since we will be going home to Texas for Thanksgiving this year. Here's this year's picture of the chefs.


Another tradition I'm trying to establish is the Thankful Tree. Unfortunately this year, it just didn't come together in time. We did get the tree up though and Ed put on the lights Saturday. I was anticipating decorating it when we got home from our holiday trip. Instead, Princess E decided we should decorate it last night. Normally we do it the day after Thanksgiving so this is close to keeping the tradition. I went down to the basement and pulled out all of the ornaments and within a couple of hours it was a beautiful celebration of our Saviour. (I'll post a picture soon.)

As I pulled out the ornaments, I came across one that made me smile. Many years ago I asked my mom if I could pick a couple of the ornaments out of her collection that I remembered from my childhood. She agreed and I quickly picked out this little lady.

She's homemade from a few bits of fabric, a clothespin, and pipecleaner, but I love her dearly. She embodies my childhood memories of Christmas. A few years later my mom lost all of her ornaments in a flood--memories gone. I can't tell you how precious having this little ornament on my tree is.

As I delicately placed her on my tree last night, I wondered which of the ornaments would become important to Princess E. What will she think of when she remembers Christmas as a child? The desire to instill traditions grew deeper.

When we return home from our trip, I plan to start this tradition.

This book is ADORABLE! It tells how one of Santa's elves comes to visit for the holiday season to "check up" on whether you're naughty or nice. Each day the elf is "hidden" in a new position for the children to find. They aren't allowed to touch the elf though or the magic is broken. I think Princess E is going to love this! While this tradition probably won't last into the teen years, I do hope that it is a fond memory she will have of her childhood.

The most important tradition of all though is establishing a deep love of the reason we celebrate Christmas. The decorations, the food, the music...it means nothing were it not for Jesus Christ. The birth of the Saviour of the world is the most joyous reason to celebrate. We will spend time in our bibles reading Luke 2 and hopefully making the celebration of Jesus the best tradition of them all!

So what are your traditions? I'm always open to new ideas.