Traditions.............

So in catching up in all my blog reading lately one of my favorite topics is how you and your family celebrate Christmas and the Birth of our Savior. My other favorites are when people post pictures of all thier Christmas decorations. I found a picture of our tree all decorated from last year, of course I don't have one this year as I don't have a house. So my tree, stockings, nativity scene, and beautiful wreath are all packed away until Next November :( I am seriously considering having Christmas in like July or August just so I get my stuff out and decorate and take pictures (and having my OWN kitchen w/ all my bake/cookwear and baking Holiday goodies!). But I don't suppose 95 degree Nebraska weather will be very festive huh? I digress..........so I'll go on and on about my family and our wonderful Christmas traditions.

This honestly is my favorite time of year. I LOVE it. I start at the beginning of November by listening to some great local radio stations that play Christmas music 24/7 until December 26th. It's so great! I love going to the stores and seeing garland and trees up with red bows. Oh it puts me in a great mood and motivates me to shop early and get everything out of the way so I can enjoy it. I LOVE decorating, putting up the tree, silvery candles, pine cones, oh I love it all! One of my favorite things in this season to do is to go around various neighborhoods and look at Christmas lights while playing Manheim Steamroller on the car cd player. Seriously it's like the greatest thing ever. My Dad used to do it to us when we were little and you better believe I am going to drag my kids out in their jammies and do it to them to! Steve hasn't quite caught on to this Becky Tradition but we'll get him there no worries!

So on to actual Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Now first of all you must know that Christmas Eve is one of the greatest days EVER of all time. Why you ask? Because that is the day my Daddy was born. He hates this. More then the plague. Growing up as a child he got the shaft and would get Christmas presents wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper that people would try to pass off as Birthday presents. This did NOT go over well. I specifically remember him telling us that his Grandma would send him socks, underwear and t-shirts every single year from California for his Birthday/Christmas present combined. So if we're feeling extra feisty one year somebody will buy him some socks and underwear. It's pretty hilarious to see the expression on his face. Anyways, so it's a VERY big deal we get him separate presents wrapped in BIRTHDAY wrapping paper nothing even slightly resembling Christmas wrapping :) We celebrate his Birthday in the afternoon and give him presents and do whatever he requests. lol he can be quite demanding! Anyways, then Christmas eve night is our BIG family Christmas night. It's super fun and special! We usually go to somebody's church (my parents go to a different church then me and my sis and brother) for the Christmas Eve candle lit service which I just LOVE. Nothing says Christmas like praising God with our voices of praise! It usually makes me cry (I am such a freaking emotional person even non pregnant) and puts me in such a great mood! Then we go home and have Mommy's home made cream of potato soup. Oh my it's amazing. I think if there were one year we didn't have it I would cry my eyes out. It's been our staple Christmas Eve food for over 20 years. I love it! The fixins' with the soup can change but the soup MUST be present. Even my extra super picky Hubby is in love w/ Mommy's potato soup! Lately the fixings have been a scrumptious jello salad, relish trey, and ham sandwiches. Oh my it's so amazing! Add the welch's sparkling grape juice and call me good to go! I LOVE it! Probably the best and my most favorite night of food all year. Seriously people. So we eat and shove our faces, by low lighting and candles mind you, I LOVE it. And then we all help clean up quickly so we can go and open all our presents! It's fun usually Dad puts on the ugly ol Santa hat and hands out the gifts. It always starts of one person at a time going and everybody else watches but after a couple minutes we get tired of that and we're all opening things at the same time. But I LOVE it cuz Dad always wants to know what everybody gets (it's so great, he bought it less then 2 weeks ago, wrapped it and has already forgotten what it is. Seriously cracks us up he has to see what your opening and wants to know what it is like he hasn't seen it before. Then maybe he will remember it's so cute I love how excited he gets it totally wears off on us kids). It's pretty fun. After presents we hang out and gather up all the trash and play/look at all our great loot!

On Christmas day we're pretty lazy, we sleep in, don't get dressed until like noon and then eat a big meal. Honestly Christmas Day isn't a big deal for my Family we do everything mainly on Christmas Eve. Last year me and Steve stayed home and opened presents we got each other, ate some left overs and I think I made a nice dinner and we watched movies and took naps. It was lovely. Some years Mom will make a big ham lunch and we'll go over and sometimes she doesn't it all just depends. Is any of this making sense or am I all over the place?? Anyways, so yeah Christmas Eve is special and I LOVE it and I LOVE my family and being with them and I LOVE that we celebrate the Savior's Birth!! Being pregnant myself I can only imagine how Mary was feeling, in pain, cold, on a Donkey, and had to go to a smelly cold barn and deliver her Baby with only her Husband there for support and help. How scary! But seeing that Baby and knowing how special he was and still is made it all go away I'm sure :) I am so so thankful!

This year is going to be WAY different. I'm really sad. It turns out that my Mom has to WORK on Christmas Eve :*( This is a major deal. Ha. Not really she only has to work like 1/2 a shift and will be off by 7 but it's still sad. She has promised to make the potato soup and keep it on low on the stove so we can eat it before she gets home and then she will join us when she gets off work. Also it turns out that Brian's (BIL) family is getting together Christmas Eve and they are going to go over and celebrate with him. It's fine I will just miss Sissy and her Hubby Christmas Eve! So our night will start out with me, Steve, Dad, and Andy meeting at my church to see the Christmas program. I have been teaching a couple girls every Sunday night since Early September 3 Christmas songs. I am so proud of these girls and their beautiful voices singing praises to God. I LOVE it! I am sooooooo excited to see them up there in front of the whole sanctuary singing their voices out! It should be quite entertaining :) They are so cute. So after church the 4 of us will go home and eat and hopefully Mom will be home soon! Then I think we will just hang out and maybe watch tv or relax or wahtever! Then we will have a big lunch and open all the presents Christmas Day. This is weird to me but I am going with it cuz I want everybody to be there together when we do! I'm sure Steve will give me a present Christmas eve seeing as how the boy can not wait at all. LOL.

Another cool tradition we started last year was that each person in the family has to buy a $5 gift and wrap it. We each start out with a present in hand, doesn't matter what it is just 1 present for each person. Dad reads The Christmas Story from the Bible and every time he says a certain word like IT or AND (it has to be a common word not something weird that won't be said very often) and you pass the present to the person sitting to your right every time the word is said. By the end of the story you open your present! We had to fudge a little last year and switch so we didn't open what you bought. DUH. It's super fun and we laughed the entire time and got to hear the real Christmas story!

So yeah we're really not as traditional as I thought we were some things are flexible but we always make sure to be together and always eat our potato soup ;) I LOVE this time of year and hearing your stories. So tell me! Wither it was growing up, what you do w/ your spouse/kids now, if you get together with family it's all special and I love to know! I like stealing other people's ideas for our family as it grows I want to pass along some of these great things to our children and cherish the memories forever!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Our tree, stockings, and nativity scene in 2006. Blah HATE the bare white walls so boring! (also notice there is a missing tree skirt. Yeah the Dog chewed it up and I was NOT happy)

Tree in '07. More ornimates, a new tree, a SKIRT!, and lots of presents. Oh I miss it! I think next year I am going to do red instead of all the blue what do you think??