Before church on Christmas Eve (Aren't they lookin' good?) (L's sure showing off those teeth!)
D- reading "The Night Before Christmas" 
Everyone in their new jammies Had to throw in this goofy pic of course! (Sorry H, I had to post it!) 
Before we had kids, D decided that once we did have kids, we would always reserve Christmas Eve night and Christmas Day morning for our house. At first, I wasn't really hip on the idea. I had spent a lot of Christmases at my grandparents on Christmas morning and loved it. Over the years, I have grown so thankful for his decision. It is such a special time for us. This year we started the celebrating by going to church.
On Christmas Eve, the kids get to open up one present from us. It is always some form of jammies, of course. They change into their jammies, have a quick photo shoot at the Christmas tree and then we start our Christmas Eve traditions. First, D reads "The Night Before Christmas" to the kids. Now this isn't read out of just any book. It is a copy he received for Christmas in 1971. It is copyrighted 1964. It is all but totally falling apart, but cannot be replaced for the memories it carries.
Next, he reads them the Christmas story from Luke 2 in the Bible. We also give "gifts" to Jesus. This is a tradition that holds great value for us and our kids.
A new tradition started a few years ago and it has become one of my favorites. Throughout the season, each of my children ask to be taken to the store to purchase gifts for their siblings. This is not something we have ever made them do or even suggested that they do. They just do it. We do not give them any money. They save their own money and purchase the gifts on their own. Well, 6 kids times 5 gifts each, one from each sibling, makes for a lot of gifts!! They are so excited to give the gifts that they've purchased or made that they have started asking to give them early. The last few years, we've let them exchange their gifts for each other on Christmas Eve. Let me just say that it is such a blessing to watch their eyes sparkle with the joy of giving when they hand each gift to their brother or sister. Most gifts are from the dollar store or are handmade, but each is specially picked or made with that person in mind. To me, it is amazing and one of my most favorite times of the season. Even the little boys handed mini Snickers bars and gum out to their siblings. The joy of giving was sparkling in their eyes as much as the joy of receiving on this, their first Christmas. |
I love your precious family traditions and the Christmas pics are priceless, what a beautiful family!!!