Our Favorite Christmas Traditions

Our family loves to celebrate Christmas.  We love everything about this festive season except maybe the stress from the over commercialization that has really tried to take away from the true meaning of the season.  I have really tried to adopt traditions that will help our family remember what this season is all about.  Namely, our faith and belief that Christmas is the time when we celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  While we do allow our children to experience the magic of believing in Santa while they are young, we also want them to be aware that the real magic of Christmas is in the gift that was given over 2000 years ago for us all.  We hope that our Christmas traditions help to inspire you to make Christmas magic this year!

1. Picking out a Real Christmas Tree

Since my husband is a forester and has a thing for trees, only a real tree will do.  We are also from North Carolina where the best Christmas trees are grown.  Many of the White House Christmas trees come from the North Carolina mountains.  Frasier firs are the number one Christmas tree in our opinion.  Thankfully, Georgia seems to agree and gets its trees from North Carolina as well.  Our kids love running through the trees while we pick out the best one. 

2.  Decorating the Christmas Tree and House

The kids love hanging our special yearly ornaments and their special ornaments on the tree. 

Our tree is very traditional with sentimental ornaments we have collected through the years from our travels or a special ornament from each year since we were married.   

We hang our stockings from the mantle awaiting a visit from the man in the red suit. I have also enjoyed using colored lights on our tree for the last few years because it just feels festive and fun for the kids. 

3.  Visiting Santa

I love our pictures with Santa through the years as our family has grown.  No, our kids don't always want to sit on Santa's lap but that's okay.  We don't usually encourage our kids to sit on stranger's laps, right?

4.  We do have an elf!

So truthfully, if I had known six years ago that I would have five kids and may be stuck doing this elf thing for many many years, I probably would have chosen differently.  Our elf has become progressively less active over the years and does not move nearly as much as he used to.  Haha!  He does bring the kids sweet snacks and notes that remind them to be good and to remember the true meaning of the season. 

He does tricks like hanging our underwear in the place of our stockings.

He toilet papers our tree.

5.  We decorate gingerbread houses together.

I love this special time together.  Our boys really enjoyed being creative with their houses.

6.  We go see Christmas lights.

Last year, we visited our local botanical gardens that puts on a beautiful light display every year.

7.  We attend a Candlelight Christmas Eve Service

We love this special time to sing Christmas songs like "Joy to the World" and "O Come All Ye Faithful" as we light our candles to remember the birth of our Savior. 

8.  Reading the Christmas Story on Christmas Eve

We read an age appropriate story of the birth of Jesus to the kids on Christmas Eve night before going to bed.  This helps keep the focus more on Jesus than on the excitement of Santa.

9.  Putting Out Cookies and Milk for Santa

We do still put out a plate of cookies and carrots for Santa and his reindeer to keep some magic in the experience for our youngest children.  Our oldest has learned that Santa is not real, but he understands that we must keep the secret for his younger siblings. Our youngest boys snuggle in the bed to fall asleep before Santa visits.

10.  Santa Visits!

I found an app that will put a picture of Santa dropping off presents in your home.  My almost four year old thought this was pretty awesome because he was obsessed with "hohoho" last Christmas.

11.  Santa leaves a special letter

Santa's letter is another special way to remind the kids of the true meaning of Christmas before the excitement of the presents overshadows it. 

12.  Opening Presents!

While all of the Christmas season seems to lead up to this moment, I really feel like it is such a small part of the whole event.  It is just a few hours of fun compared to a month of family celebrations and traditions.  I do love watching the excitement on my kids' faces as they see what Santa brought them though.

13.  We celebrate with family

Some years we travel to visit family but since our family had a big gathering earlier in the month, our family came to visit us after Christmas. 

14.  We enjoy a yummy Christmas dinner together

We enjoyed a delicious home cooked meal of turkey with lots of sides.  Even the baby liked it!

15.  We sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and blow out his candles on his birthday cake!

Some years we bake Jesus' birthday cake but sometimes we just have to buy a cake from the store.  The point is to celebrate Jesus' birthday with our kids.  Happy Birthday, Jesus!

How do you celebrate Christmas?  Do you have a favorite tradition?  Leave us a comment to share!