♥: Christmas Traditions

One of the reasons I love Christmas has to do with all the fun traditions surrounding it. The best part of staying home for Christmas this year was that we were able to discover some fun things that may become part of our family's Christmas traditions. Here are some that I want to remember and reuse next year:

1.) Dec 1, (or maybe on Thanksgiving)- Write letters to Santa (so there are no late surprises)

2.) Joshua the Shepherd is a tradition the Tanners have and I love that it brings Christ into their Christmas focus, and has a service element. We don't have a Joshua, but we do have an Elf. He left funny treats like "Reindeer Poop". After that Myra started walking around saying "I love poop!" Other than that, he is a good Elf that helps inspire the Christmas spirit. He is also funny, and very creative... props to Devin... the kids loved it!

To incorporate some service this year we added a service chain. Every night we discussed what we did to serve and added links to our chain. (I tried to plan a specific service the kids would help with most days).

3.) Make a fun night of decorating the Christmas tree. Sing "Oh Christmas Tree" while putting up tree (next year I'll try to remember to learn the lyrics). A friend had a fun idea of having a family sleep over around the Christmas tree, everyone in their sleeping bags and falling asleep with the tree lights flickering.

4.) Friday movie night- Watch Christmas movies as a family

5.) Talk about the gifts Jesus gave us and what gifts we can give to Jesus.

6.) Christmas advent calendar! I am in the process of finishing mine for next year! Mine has the nativity scene, and each day we will pull out a new character from the pocket and read a corresponding scripture/story and sing a song each day.

7.) Each year we make home-made Christmas tree ornaments for each family member (a Poulton tradition).

8.) Take a temple trip to see the nativity and lights.

9.) Service Project- Salvation Army's Christmas Angel Tree

10.) Fill our pockets with change before heading to the grocery store, and fill the Salvation Army's red kettle's. (the kids were really great at this one)

11.) Christmas Adam. On the Eve of Christmas Eve we act out the nativity with friends. This year we did the nativity acting out and a white elephant exchange, which the kids loved!

12.) Our family has a special Christmas quilt. Each night through December we rotate who gets to cuddle up under the Christmas quilt at night. On the night of Christmas Eve, our family gathers on the Christmas blanket as we read a special Christmas story (we may unwrap a new one each year as a family gift). Then we leave the quilt by the Christmas tree for Santa Clause to warm up in when he pays his visit.

13.) Stole this idea from a friend and inspired by the book "I Believe in Santa Claus". We invited a special visitor to our house on Christmas Eve. "He loves children, He wears red, He brings gifts, ..." The kids try to guess who it is, and then we open the door, (we used Myra's playhouse) to find a picture of Christ. I love connecting Santa Claus with Christ.

14.) Christmas in Bethlehem. It is a special dinner we have (the week after Christmas, when life is less crazy) and we talk about how things were on that first Christmas.

And here are our lovely pictures...

Christmas Adam's Nativity: