Looking Back Moving Forward
Christmas is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it. When I was little my parents celebrated Christmas in a big way. We always had a beautifully decorated tree, lots of wrapped presents and then Santa always delivered way more than we deserved. My mom once told me that they would buy our presents and then a few days before Christmas my dad would look at them under the tree and say “I think we need more” and so they would go out and get us more. When Robby and I got married I was determined to continue the big Christmas celebrations. We planned, shopped, decorated and made memories with our kids and family. Now, our Christmas is starting to look a little different. My parents have both passed away and our kids are grown. Some of our favorite traditions don’t work for us anymore and we are also recognizing that it might be time to start some new traditions that involve just me and Robby. Change can be uncomfortable at times but it can also be good. We are excited to continue to move forward and make new memories.
Our Favorite Memories and Traditions
Before we make new memories, we are going to look at some of our favorite memories of times past. By doing this, we can better understand what made our past memories so special and incorporate some of that in our new memories. Plus some memories are just too good not to continue in some way! Here are some of our favorite past memories and traditions:
- Going to the tree lot and finding the biggest tree that would fit into our house
- Walking through our town square to see the lights, drink hot chocolate and talk to people
- Ig-Nite (we will talk more about this in a later post but basically it’s a fun night with Robby’s high school buddies)
- A trip to Branson, Missouri with our kids to go to Silver Dollar City and enjoy the lights, rides and shows
- Driving around town to look at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve
- Seeing Santa Claus at the mall and letting the kids tell him what they wanted for Christmas
- Cookie Decorating
- Christmas Eve snack dinner
- Watching Classic Christmas movies and shows
- My mom’s monkey bread for breakfast on Christmas day
New Memories and Traditions
Over the years our favorite traditions have changed as our children have grown. We stopped our visits with Santa many years ago and even our drive to see Christmas lights on Christmas Eve went away quite a few years ago. With having limited time with our kids our traditions are being forced to change even more. Robby and I decided to challenge ourselves and make some new traditions. Our goal is to continually remember to honor those who came before us, enjoy those who are with us and pave the way for those coming after us. Some of these traditions are just for me and Robby so that we can make memories together and some are for when the kids come home to celebrate. Here are some of our ideas:
- Branson family getaway with my extended family. This is something my mom started before she passed away. My brother, sisters and our families go to Branson, spend time in a cabin, play games (more of this in a later post), go to Silver Dollar City and eat some of my mom’s favorite recipes.
- Ig-Nite will still be happening. Honestly, this is a tradition that we hope will continue for many years! We look forward to sharing more about this in the weeks to come!
- Cookies by the book! Robby and I enjoy cooking and baking together and so we bought a new cookie cookbook. We are excited to try some of the new recipes. We will also make some for the kids to decorate when they come home.
- Family Christmas Scavenger Hunt. This is a first for us but we are wanting to try to make this a fun new tradition. We will share more about this as we develop it!
- Robby will make his famous caramel corn. It is simply the best there is and I love it with all my heart.
- Robby has also committed to making a Grinch popcorn for when we watch the Grinch movie. I’m excited to try this!
- Matching Christmas Jammies because what is cuter than seeing your adult children and grandchildren in soft and cuddly pajamas?
- Make Mom’s monkey bread because it is amazing and Christmas morning wouldn’t be the same without it.
- All the usual Christmas movies, tree decorating, present buying, wrapping and exchanging and eating way too much that we always do but are still special every year.
What memories are you going to make this year?
This is going to be a fun and exciting season. Some of you may be experiencing a new normal this year and others may be in full swing of carrying on age-old traditions. Whatever your stage of life you are in let me encourage you to honor those who came before us, enjoy those who are with us and pave the way for those that are coming after us. We would love to hear how you are celebrating Christmas this year. What traditions do you hold dear and what new traditions are you starting?
