This is a picture of the first Christmas tree Brent and I decorated together! I love this picture even though it's a little blurry because I have such wonderful memories of our first Christmas married! That tree doesn't have as many ornaments as ours does now...but I love the way it looks against the red walls in our first home (I miss our red walls!) I love thinking about how I strung cranberries for the first time...but gave up on stringing enough for our tree and settled on making a garland along the curtain rod (which stayed there for many months!) I love remembering how many pictures I made Brent take with the self-timer and tripod...SO thankful for our first digital camera that let me know I needed to change sweaters and socks to get a good picture! :) (That might not be Brent's favorite memory!) I can still remember the taste of the Steak and Lobster Bercy Christmas meal that we made...a tradition we began that we have tweaked a little since. (We still have a special meal with "our family" before leaving to celebrate with extended families...but we haven't done lobster since our second Christmas...might have to change that next year!) Special memories!
Our house is decorated...although I have to admit that our luck with trees in Texas is not so good. While still green and twinkling, our tree is very dry, which makes me sad...I think it is the time it takes to ship fresh trees all the way here...a friend told me about a tree farm nearby (who would have guessed it?) and I think we will try there next year if we are still in Texas. Last week we received the wreath that Mom and Dad ship us every year from the mountains of North Carolina...{sigh}...it is fresh and green and smells absolutely wonderful! I love to open the door just to smell it...for a few minutes I am transported back to the Appalachian Mountains.
Today we got a bunch of Christmas cards...I love getting Christmas cards...I am so glad that even with email, people still take time to send personal cards in the mail! And for those of you expecting cards from us don't worry, I'm almost done with our Christmas cards...just waiting on the pictures to arrive!
We are spending lots of evenings driving around looking at the lights...this is Hadleigh's request every evening! Her favorites are the big inflated snowmen...and we are on a constant search for them...ready for the next one before the last is out of sight. She also likes to look for Baby Jesus when people have a nativity in their yard. She and Nathanael have had so much fun playing with the Little People Nativity we got this year...a good teaching tool as we've been reading our advent devotions!
And in the spirit of giving, I thought I would do my first blog giveaway...tell me what one of your favorite Christmas traditions is and tomorrow, I will randomly select a winner to receive a one year subscription to Cottage Living, one of my very favorite magazines! (Please leave your email in the comment and make sure to check back Tuesday night so that I can get the subscription registered before I leave for Christmas (less than a week now!)) Can't wait to read about your traditions!
17 comments:
We spread reindeer food on the yard (oats and glitter) on Christmas Eve. My 4 year old loves this. Found your blog from Poppy Ink.
melisa30 @ ellijay . com
Thanks
melisa30
Hi Kimber-Leigh, very cool RAK giveaway! My favorite Christmas tradition would have to be making and decorating Cookies. We put out all the decor goodies and everyone who visits on Christmas must decorate a cookie, some get pretty fancy. We leave them out for a while fo all to see...then of course we chow down, the kids especially love it!!
Ps. it was almost as if I could smell your wreath too!
The night before Christmas we let the boys unwrap a couple of presents. New pj pants and a book. It's the same thing every year, but they're still excited. After they put their new jammies on, we cuddle up and read the new Christmas books (and the old ones). When they were really little it helped w/ the anticipation, now it's just our little tradition. xe
*we also love to drive around to look at lights...that is one of my favorite childhood traditions I've carried on w/ my guys ;)
my favorite day of the year will be this saturday when me, my mom, and my sil all get together at mom's to bake. we all bring a bunch of recipes and just go to town with the cookie making. we drink pina coladas and have a great afternoon. we also let my dad keep up with the dishes ;)
my favorite day of the year will be this saturday when me, my mom, and my sil all get together at mom's to bake. we all bring a bunch of recipes and just go to town with the cookie making. we drink pina coladas and have a great afternoon. we also let my dad keep up with the dishes ;)
my favorite day of the year will be this saturday when me, my mom, and my sil all get together at mom's to bake. we all bring a bunch of recipes and just go to town with the cookie making. we drink pina coladas and have a great afternoon. we also let my dad keep up with the dishes ;)
my favorite day of the year will be this saturday when me, my mom, and my sil all get together at mom's to bake. we all bring a bunch of recipes and just go to town with the cookie making. we drink pina coladas and have a great afternoon. we also let my dad keep up with the dishes ;)
My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas eve at my husband's grandmothers house. We would drive up to Los Angeles from San Diego, braving the traffic, and spend hours with her on Christmas eve. Then at about 8pm we would treck over to the Irish side of the family, where Christmas Eve was that year. Then around Midnight we would head home, but stop at In-n-Out and get burgers. I love the routine of it, the family traditions mixed in like a cookie exchange nad cake decorating contest, and mostly I loved the cold drive home in the dark with Christmas music on the radio and a sleeping Alex in the backseat.
Now that we are here in Texas, we can't have that Christmas Eve tradition, we miss it so much every year.
Like many, my favorite thing to do is to bake lots and lots and lots of cookies. Between cookie exchanges, gifts for friends, teachers, etc. I so love to give a homemade gift at this time of year. Better get to work, now that I think about it!!
I love that my husband and I spend Christmas morning in front of our tree both dressed in flannel pajamas. It just adds another special warmth to the season.
I love the picture of the little tree. My favorite tradition is every year we go to the beach on Christmas day, and watch the sunset.
chrish5306@aol.com
What a very cool and fun Rak!
My favorite Christmas Traition started with my DH's Family. It is called the feeler game. You must feel and try to guess the gift. You can't open it until you guessed it. And they can get sneaky, and make it hard. But I love that tradition! I have many more but that would take lots of pages! bridgebabie@hotmail.com
You don't have to enter me in the RAK, but my favorite tradition from growing up is that my stepdad and mom would always have the one big present hidden somewhere in the house. They had these pretty gift box ornaments, and when you were done with your other presents, you opened the gift box to see your clue. It lead you to a spot in the house for another clue, and so on until you found your big present (basketball goal, bicycles, etc). I loved it so much I do it with my boys already, even though they can't read. I draw pictures of where their next clue is (tv, sink, under Mom's pillow) and they LOVED it last year, and Carson is already asking about the Christmas Treasure Hunt this year.
Another is driving to McAdenville near Charlotte, which is a town that COMPLETELY decks out in lights. Not a house is missed, and it takes hours, but it's breathtaking.
My favorite Christmas tradition is everyone having breakfast together Christmas morning and then we open our stocking gifts followed by our other gifts!!
jenniferbehmer@hotmail.com
Thanks!
My favorite tradition in my (husband, son) family is decorating our tree. I love looking at the ornaments one by one and remembering where we lived or what life was like when we got those particular ornaments. My husband also has a set of tiny glass ornaments that I made for him to put on the tree. Each one has a reason that I love him written on it. I like to watch him as he's putting them on and reading them one by one. Anyway, that's my favorite thing we do every year. Thanks for the cool blog and RAK. :) Sara B
I know I'm late for this, but thought I would share...my favorite tradition is that since the year my Mom became pregnant with me she has purchased a Wallace Silversmith Sterling Silver Sleigh Bell ornament for me. They have a new one each year. Now that I am 28, we have the most beautiful Christmas tree covered in silver sleigh bells with big gold bows and the sound it makes when you bump up against it is so sweet and beyond compare. I can't wait to have a child of our own so that we can keep this tradition alive...
Meredith
benmeredithfox@sbcglobal.net
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