Monday, December 19, 2011

Traditions, Old and New

Early in December, we wrapped up the gifts, loaded up the car and headed down to my parents home for our annual gift exchange/celebration.  We tend to do Christmas early as it has become increasingly difficult to gather during the actual Christmas day with our family.  Over the years, little traditions have emerged and have become something we all look forward to!  One such tradition is going to a massive christmas light display in a nearby town.  It is a pretty big deal and is always crowded, but fun none-the-less.  So we all climb aboard a wagon and ooh and aah our way through the display, remembering our favorites from previous years.  MaKenna is really at the age now where she is starting to "get it" and it has been so much fun watching her experience these things for the first time!    



 Another yearly tradition is the making of Christmas cookies with my mom.  We always do sugar cookies so the kids can have a blast and decorate them as they wish.  Some of them tend to take it pretty serious and have designs laid out while others just dump or pour many, many sprinkles on top.



 These traditions have carried us through the season, serving as hallmarks for our time together.  As the years go on, I have come to appreciate these moments and what they really mean for our family.  This year has been an especially introspective year for me and there is always something about Winter that makes you draw even more within.  What I love so much about the holidays is these moments together, but it always seemed to come and go in a blink of an eye!  One way to prolong the season, as well as to slow it down, was the introduction of the advent wreath in our home.  This year is the first year of our family celebrating Advent.  A candle is lit each week in the four weeks leading up to Christmas (or Solstice). 
 In our home, our advent wreath honors each of the four kindoms-mineral, plant, animal and man.  The kids and I chose items representing the appropriate kingdom and would add that to the center plate.  At dinner time, we would like the candle (or candles) and say our advent verse.
 The kids have embraced the advent wreath joyfully and looked forward to the lighting of each new candle as well as choosing items for the plate.  Jacob even suggested that we eat our Christmas dinner by candlelight!  I think I can positively say this is another tradition we will have to look forward to in years to come!

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