Some of my fondest childhood memories are those of Celebrating Christmas Eve with my family! I loved the excitement I would start to feel when Mom would take us to pic n save to pick out that perfect gift for our secret brother or sister we had gotten for the gift exchange on Christmas Eve.I loved the Nativity we would reenact each year. I was jealous of Cari getting to be Mary and Eddie being Joseph each year. I wanted to be Mary instead of a Shepherd, but once we began, it seemed that being a Shepherd was just right!
Remember that house we went to every year? It was decorated like you wouldn't believe! And the man that played Santa...Freak but It was fun seeing him every year!
I loved how as I got older it was still one of my favorite nights of the year.The traditions changed a bit as we added to them. My favorite new one of course was the caroling to neighbors and friends. We would all put on reindeer antlers and pile into the car and head out to the families we were gonna sing to. The little kids were forced to be up front. Maybe so they drowned out the voices of some of us not so talented singers! And they were so dang cute too. So full of excitement! I think our huge family was a sight for all to see!
Christmas Eve was pretty low key for us this year. I am kinda at a loss of how to celebrate it when we are not home at Mom's for it! It just feels off to me! We've tried caroling with just our little family but Tony is the only one with a good voice and since we don't have a huge group it feels a bit like we are torturing the families we visit rather than delighting them!
And it doesn't feel right with so few people here! When my step kids are with us it seems to feel a little better but they decided not to come out this year. I need to establish some of our own traditions so that I can reclaim Christmas Eve as one of my favorite evenings of the year!
This year I put out a bunch of snack foods, some ham and some rolls. I just didn't want to cook since I was going to be cooking all day on Christmas morning. Then against my will I gave in and we decided to open presents. Weird to do it so early and not save it for the last part of the evening!
We all then put on our Christmas PJ's and then got in the car and drove around looking at lights! That was pretty fun for the little girls. They were anxious to get home and get in bed though! They were worried Santa was on his way!
So even though it isn't as fabulous as my memories of it are it was still a fun night.
Maybe next year we will come up with something to make it fabulous!
7 comments:
I am so glad that you wrote about how you are at a loss. So I AM!!!
I am trying to figure out our own traditions and it is hard.
I decide we would make cookies for Santa and that was a real hit for Reagan. I think the light idea is fabulous!!
I was just really struggling with the whole CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. My goal this year is not focus so much on the commercial side of Christmas but the traditions that we can build. Those will be the memories that are forever.
Love Ya Lauri!!
We are going to be in California July 25-August 08 if you are guys have the time we would love to see you!!
Nice blog with nice family picture. Great Blog. Enjoyed it very much. Keep up the good work.
Your family is so beautiful Lauri!!! Great pictures, and I bet even though you felt sort of at a loss...you made wonderful memories for the kids! They are going to grow up and want to replicate the feelings you gave them by your traditions.
Happy new Year!
super fun slide show! it's hard to go from Giant family to small. even though by the worlds standards you have a good sized family.
you could try caroling from the car. one year we piled in the van, and drove through trailer parks singing carols. no embarrassment, lots of lights to see. win win.
The girls look so cute with their matching Christmas shirts. I love Christmas Eve too! In fact, we open most of our presents that night instead of Christmas. Santa only brings a few things on Christmas morning. I guess that is our tradition.
The family comes over Christmas Eve and we open most of our presents from everybody that night. Christmas morning is for the big toys, relaxing and playing all day. =) I really love it. It makes my life easier too.
i think its kinda funny that your feeling lost and i can understand that cuz' i feel the same. it's just different and weird when it's smaller. so i was so happy to do christmas eve at danis, where we did do caroling. looking at the pictures you can't even tell from the looks of your kids that you were feeling lost. you've started the traditions and it'll be something they'll want to replicate.
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