Holiday Traditions.... Holiday Traditions....
Since Christmas comes during the winter, you'll find us at home with feeding cattle and sheep, ice skating, sledding, feeding the birds, making snowmen or sitting by a roaring fire playing cribbage. Our traditions are quite simple and center around the home.
Advent-- I have found a special book called Family Celebrations by Ann Hibbard. In this book we discovered the tradition of reading different stories from the Bible which tell of the true meaning of Christmas. With each story there is a home-made ornament to hang on the tree which symbolizes that story or verse. There are also suggested hymns and carols to sing along with prayers.
We also have an advent wreath with candles or sometimes just a special "Christmas Candle" which we light during our Advent reading time.
Cutting the Christmas Tree-- It is our family tradition to cut down a fresh Christmas tree in the Black Hills of South Dakota. We usually take a day to do this. We pack a lunch and a few sacks to gather pine cones and greenery. We also enjoy the different birds there. Of course, the main goal is to bring home a beautiful tree to grace our home and to adorn with our ornaments.
The Ornaments-- Some of our ornaments are those from the Advent study from above, but we also have many home-made ornaments which were given yearly by my sister to each of the children. The idea is that each of them will have their very own ornaments to take with them when they leave home. We have also cut snowflakes and hung them onto the tree and have made Baby Jesus in a walnut crib. At times we hang special cards on the tree.
Christmas Cards-- This is my tradition (Jody). I cherish the Christmas cards and letters from others so much and am glad to send my greetings as well. I like to involve the children in this as well by having them rubber stamp the Christmas letters or cards.
When all the Christmas cards stop coming, we save the cards in a basket. Each day we choose one or two cards and then pray over the family or friend who sent it. Depending on how many cards we receive, this can last up to 2 months!
We also recycle the cards into ornaments or gift tags for the next year's presents.
Cookies-- We always make Christmas cookies. It is a tradition to make the Best Ever Sugar Cookies, cut them into holiday shapes, frost and sprinkle with colored sugar. We love eating them, but also enjoy giving them as gifts.
Christmas Eve Services-- One of our most favorite traditions is to attend the candlelight Christmas Eve service at our church. Afterwards, we go to grandparents' home for a bowl of hot chili or home-made pizza!
Christmas Day Dinner-- We do a BIG dinner on Christmas day, usually consisting of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, salads, relish trays, home-made buns, and everyone's favorite pies, cookies and candies. We like to have a special punch and cheese and crackers for snacking too.
Secret Santa-- Although we've never promoted Santa as "the great bringer of all gifts" we do remember the story of St. Nicholas who was a true and generous Christian (one story is found in the Book of Virtues). The children draw names on Thanksgiving Day among themselves and choose a special gift for their recipient. It's always fun to see how long they can keep it a secret!
The Christmas Story-- Before we open our gifts on Christmas morning, we always read the Christmas Story from Luke and say a prayer of thanks for the year God has given us.
I hope you have enjoyed reading about our family traditions and we hope that you will be making wonderful Christmas memories for your family as well.
Jody
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