Oh, What Fun It Is To... Make Memories!

Today I'm linking up with AP at I Love You More Than Carrots (who I adore and think we share the same brain) to talk about our Christmas traditions and memories.

Since Mason is still young, we are still trying to establish our family traditions. Right now our traditions are a mix of ones carried over from each of our childhoods as well as new ones that we started as a family. I love mixing old with new.

Since Mason was born we always said that we would spend the night at our house on Christmas Eve and wake up on Christmas morning in our own home and experience Christmas morning through the eyes of our children. This is something that is so very important to us. We want to embrace and remember Christmas and spend time with it being just us.

A few of the memories/traditions we look forward to either establishing or continuing are:

1. Christmas Eve Love feast Service:  This is something I always remember attending as a child. It is the perfect way to get your mind right and your heart fulfilled in the love that is Christmas. While Christmas and the whole idea of Santa is fun for kids, we really want our children to know the true meaning of Christmas. We want to make sure that Jesus is always front and center.

2. Advent Calendar: What a wonderful way to count down to Christmas and the birth of Jesus!

3. Our Annual Christmas Card Photo: I love to send cards. Love it. I would send them for every holiday if I could. This is something that we will do for many years to come. And if you send me a photo card, you better believe I keep them! I have a box full of them!

4. 3 Gifts From Santa: Like I said, Jesus is the real reason for the season. And while we will also have Santa in our homes, the gifts will be limited. I love the idea of three gifts from Santa (like the gifts from the Three Wise men) for each child: something to wear, something to read and something to play with.

5. Annual Christmas Dinner: This is something we have done for the past three years and we really enjoying hosting it. We invited my family over sometime the week before Christmas and share a meal and reflect on the   past year. It's such a wonderful time for fellowship.

6. Elf on the Shelf: I was a little sad when I realized that Mason was too young to fully understand and grasp the idea this year. I look forward to bringing out Elf next year and letting Mason name him! I think it's a really fun and neat idea for kids and there are so many ideas/activities for your elf on pinterest!

7. Christmas PJs: I love this one! We don't do matchy-matchy but we do coordinate. I pick them out each year, wrap them and then Brian and Mason open them on Christmas Eve. We go to bed wearing them and wake up the next morning in our coordinating pjs and of course, take a family picture. Thankfully I have a wonderful husband who is willing to go along with my ideas.

I love carrying on traditions while at the same time making new memories/traditions. I can't wait to see what new traditions we develop as a family in the years to come.

So tell me, what are your favorite Christmas traditions?