Family Traditions

For as long as I can remember we have always opened gifts on Christmas Eve. When I was a child, we would go to Christmas Eve Mass and Santa would always magically come to our home while we were at church. Now when I think back to those days, it all makes sense. The endless trips of my parents back and forth into the house..........my Mom needing to go to the bathroom, my Dad forgetting his keys, my Mom running back inside to get her purse. That's when Santa was making his appearance.

We have carried on that tradition in my own family now. My parents always come to stay at our home on Christmas Eve. Even though my husband and I are not practicing Catholics, my parents are. So on Christmas Eve, we all go to Mass together. I do it because it's a gift that makes my Mom smile. Through the years I have put alot of worry lines on my Moms face, and now I enjoy giving her some extra laugh lines.

Now it's my husband and I hurrying into the house to make sure the presents are under the tree. This year will be especially exciting because our daughter is getting her very first bicycle and our son a little peddle three wheeler. I can't wait to photograph their little smiling faces when they come into the house and see what Santa Claus has brought for them.

Another tradition that has been in my family for decades is holiday baking. I remember even as a small child my Dad baking up Christmas candies and cookies. He would have them lined up all over the counter of the kitchen. There were chocolate peanut butter balls, candied pretzels, divinity, fudge, and homemade turtles. You would think that having a father that was an amazing cook would have steered me in the right direction. Well, I wasn't paying alot of attention to the cooking back then. So even though I am an amateur cook, I am trying to carry on the tradition of holiday baking to my own kids. 

One tradition that my Mom began when my daughter was born (her first grandchild) was to make gingerbread houses or gingerbread cookies with her grandchildren. Last year they baked gingerbread cookies and they also read the gingerbread man book to go along with it. This year my Mom and my kids made a gingerbread house.

There is a tradition that I didn't start until the birth of my own children. That is the tradition of building a snowman. I don't ever remember building a snowman as a child. (I may have built one, but I don't recall it.) My daughter and I have built a few snowmen, and this year will be the first time for my son. I have also taken to collecting snowmen here and there just because they are usually happy and they give the cold winter a little cheer.

There is one more tradition that my family has carried through the ages and I will pass it on to you. That is the tradition of wishing our friends and family a MERRY CHRISTMAS.

So I'm sending Merry Christmas wishes to all of you at Gather. Best Wishes also for a wonderful 2009.