It is our tradition to wait to put up our Christmas tree on Christmas eve, or as close to as possible. I know this seems odd, but it’s a tradition we enjoy. To us it makes the process much more special, as it is a family event. We prefer to go to a tree farm and have one cut if possible. The thing about waiting so close to Christmas is that it makes every year an adventure! You never know what is going to be available, or how much it is going to cost. Some years we have gotten really nice big trees at tree farms that were fairly expensive, other years we have had smaller (Charlie Brown) trees that were inexpensive. One year Home Depot gave us a tree! Hahahaha! 🙂 This year there seemed to be a shortage of Christmas trees, but we did find a tree farm that had a few left. Other than one of those giant trees, there were a few small trees left. We picked our tree, brought it home, and made it look beautiful!

Another one of our traditions is to drive around and look at Christmas lights. This year we went and walked through the Cumberland River walk downtown. The lights were beautiful, the weather was nice, and we had a lot of fun! There were all kinds of light structures, and the kids wanted to have their picture taken at all of them. 🙂 There was also this house down the street from ours that had lights on a program where you could listen to the radio while you watch. It was spectacular and so much fun!

Baking is one of our traditions. This year we baked cinnamon rolls, Christmas cookies, and a birthday cake for baby Jesus! The cinnamon rolls turned out fantastic! I’m not sure, but I think it’s because I made them in one day. In the past I have made the dough a day or two ahead of time, and then rolled them out. This time I didn’t, and I feel it made for a softer dough. Christmas sugar cookies are fun and delicious! The kids love cutting the cookies out and decorating them, and of course stealing pinches of dough here and there. 😉 I love making this beautiful white, fluffy, coconut cake for Christmas day. We call it baby Jesus’ birthday cake. It reminds me of angels or fluffy snow. 🙂 It’s so dreamy, and I will be making it for many years to come!

On Christmas eve we were blessed to attend church. I say it this way because in years past Christmas eve has been one of the busiest days of the year for Andrew and sometimes myself. This year we didn’t have any pastoral or musician duties. We were simply able to attend! The worship service was very meaningful, and we enjoyed the peaceful evening.

Reading the Christmas story on Christmas morning before we open presents is another one of our traditions. This tradition stems back to my child hood. We did this every year, and it is a very special and meaningful memory to me. I hope it will be for my kids as well.

We enjoy our family tradition of spending Christmas day at home with the kids. We like being able to spend the day with each other. The kids like spending time figuring out their new toys (it usually takes both Andrew and I all morning to help them unbox and “figure out” their toys! Ha!) One of our traditions when we are at home is to order Chinese food for lunch! It keeps us from having to cook! Then we usually cook one big dinner. This year Andrew’s parents were able come on Christmas day! So after we had Christmas morning with the kids, we had Christmas afternoon with G-pa and Grand-mama! Then we all had dinner together that evening. We cooked a roasted beef tenderloin, twice baked potatoes and steamed green beans! Delicious! 🙂

Sunday we drove to my parents house and had Christmas with Papa and Nana! Unfortunately my sister and brother in law didn’t get to come and celebrate with us due to Covid, but we are planning to celebrate with them soon! We had a wonderful Christmas lunch with Dad and Mom, and then the kids opened their gifts. They were all excited about their new scooters and had to go try them out. 🙂 We spent the afternoon playing games, and enjoying the weather outside. The weather has been so warm and pleasant that it has been nice being able to send the kids outside without having to worry about coats, gloves, and hats! We even went for a hike on Monday morning through the woods around my parents house!

We are still celebrating Christmas in that according to the liturgical calendar today is the sixth day of Christmas! We will be celebrating until January 6th!

So Happy Sixth day of Christmas!

Love,

PK