Christmas is.... tradition.

I love this week and I love having 2 guest bloggers each day.

Our afternoon guest is Mel, from The Larson Lingo.

Mel inspires me through her photography, her dyno-mite party planning skills and the special and meaningful traditions she has with her precious family not only at Christmas but through out the year. 

Can I just say that when I met her in real life at Blog Sugar, it was like I knew her for years?

Hi Goat & The Kid Readers!
My name is Mel and I blog over at The Larson Lingo.
I am wife to Kevin and Mommy to my 2 girls, Kate (almost 5) and Claire (3).
I was thrilled when Nancy asked me to be a part of this series because I LOVE everything about Christmas!
(And, I love Nancy and was so excited to finally meet her this past September at Blog Sugar)

For me, Christmas is TRADITION.
Tradition looks different to everyone.
Tradition, as defined by Websters is:
"the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice"

Growing up, we didn't have a lot of Family Traditions throughout the year, but we did have Christmas Traditions, several of them. Our Christmases were rich with tradition and that is why I looked forward to Christmas so much. I knew what to expect & it was good.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was heading up to the Santa Cruz mountains the day after Thanksgiving to chop down our Christmas tree. This tradition started when I was 5 years old. Thankfully, my husband has let me carry on most of my family's traditions when we got married, this one included. We continued this tradition every year until I got pregnant with Kate in 2006. For a few years we skipped cutting down the tree, but we would still get our tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Last year, we took the girls up to the mountains to cut down our tree and it was SO much fun.
There is something magical about trekking around the forest & chopping down a tree.
We hope to do this every year (if our schedules allow it. We didn't do it this year because of a family birthday party, but next year, it is on!). But no matter what, we always get our tree the day after Thanksgiving. (I also continue the tradition that my mom instilled...no Christmas

The fun thing about having my own girls (they are 3 and 4.5) is that for the past few years, we have introduced a new tradition to Christmas. Last year, we jumped on the Elf on the Shelf bandwagon, but with a twist.
Our Elf arrives the first Sunday in Advent after we get home from church. He is the one that brings them their Christmas jammies (then, they can wear them all December!) Our elf also brings the girls a present to help them get in the Christmas Spirit. This year, the Elf brought the girl The Little People Nativity Set. If you are familiar with Elf on the Shelf, the premise is that the Elf reports back to Santa on how the children are behaving. We don't focus on that aspect of Elf on the Shelf. We just have fun finding his new hiding spots each morning. The girls love this tradition and were so excited when he showed up again this year.

We started another new tradition this year. On December 1st, the first day of Advent, the girls not only get to do their Advent Calendar, but each night they get to unwrap a Christmas book. What I did is wrap all of the Christmas books that we own. (We had 14 Christmas themed books, but then I checked some out from the library so that we had a total of 24, one for each night leading up to Christmas.)
I put them in a basket under the Christmas tree and the girls rotate each night who gets to pick & unwrap one of the books. It has been such a fun new tradition that is simple & easy to do.

Another Christmas tradition I grew up having is that every Christmas Eve we would go to church, drive around looking at Christmas lights & then come home and open our Christmas presents. Yes...we were one of those families who opened ALL the presents Christmas Eve.
We still do this with our family. It makes Christmas Eve special and the girls don't get overwhelmed with presents on Christmas morning. On Christmas morning, Santa brings the girls the 1 thing they really wanted and some stocking stuffers. We are able to spend Christmas day lounging around in our pajamas, eating, watching Christmas movies, spending time as a family and reflecting on the gift of Christ's birth rather than spending the day opening presents.

So, those are a few of my favorite traditions.
And, what do those traditions all have in common?
They all revolve around spending time with Family building memories while celebrating the birth of Christ.
I hope my girls enjoy our family traditions during Christmas time as much as I do.
I can't wait to see how our Christmas traditions continue to grow & evolve over the years.
It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
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Thanks, Mel.
I love how you tie in the love of books and advent at the same time. Brilliant, my friend.
Now, go visit Mel and drool all over her blog-eye-candy such as this little beauty she is giving away!

An Important Dates custom print from Mel's Daylight Designs.

an 8x10 custom print of 4-7 important and special dates

Bang out a Christmas gift like that. BAM!!!

Here's how you can be the lucky winner.

1. Leave a comment about your favorite tradition at your house.

2. Follow Mel  at The Larson Lingo

3. Follow your hostess with the mostess, moi.

4. Join in on the fun and post about this fun party week.

This week long rager-party-giveaway continues tomorrow with Genn and Gina.
Don't forget it will be your turn to share what Christmas is to you this Friday.
Y'all come back now, hear?