Family Traditions

Ever since we found out that we were pregnant, I have been thinking about the traditions that I want to pass down to my children and new traditions that I want to start.  Most of our family traditions are focused around the holiday season, which is why I absolutely LOVE the holidays!  This year we were finally able to begin some traditions with Ethan.

Thanksgiving-
We have always celebrated Thanksgiving with my mom and dad's families at the same time!  We are so blessed that we have never had to split the holidays between both families.  This year (like most) we spent Thanksgiving at my Aunt Margaret's house in Indy.

 Afterwards, the ladies (mom, Katlynne, Aunt Sherry, Abbe, and I) spent the night at Abbe's house to prepare for our annual Black Friday shopping trip.  This trip has become something that we all look forward to each year.  It is more than just a shopping trip, it's a day of fun, laughing, and making memories.  Ethan didn't get to go shopping with Mommy this year, but he did do a little Black Friday shopping with Daddy!

Christmas Tree Hunting-
Every year for as long as I can remember, we have gone to cut down a fresh tree for Mom and Dad's living room.  I hope one day that we will start decorating a fresh tree in our own house, but that will have to wait until we actually celebrate Christmas at our house!  This year it was extremely cold, but that didn't keep us from hunting a tree and cutting it down!  I think Ethan thought we were ridiculous and he didn't understand why Mommy kept putting a blanket over his face, keeping him from being able to see everything that was going on!  We still had a good time and I really glad that Ethan is going to be able to partake in this tradition as well!

Visiting Santa-
This year we took Ethan to see Santa at my school.  I wasn't sure how he would react to him, but he was very interested in the Big Guy!  He wanted to check out everything about him.  He wasn't quite sure what to think when we set him on his lap!  Since Ethan is too young to really tell Santa what he wants, I spoke for him!  This year Ethan is asked for a big boy chair, some new toys, and some new clothes.  We'll see if Santa listens!

Christmas Eve-
This year we were able to begin some of our own family traditions, as well as carry on some of our old ones!  We usually spend Christmas Eve with family, but this year was a little different.  We did celebrate with Adam's grandparents in the morning, but the rest of the day was spent at home relaxing while Ethan took a really long nap!  That evening we went to our church's Candle Light service.  It was really nice and Ethan was so good through the whole thing.  When we came home Ethan had three presents to open, a new pair of pajamas, a stuffed reindeer, and "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".  After opening his presents, we got him ready for bed in his new jammies.  Then Adam him the story, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas".  We put out some cookies and milk for Santa and tucked our little guy into bed.

Christmas Day-
We woke up Christmas morning to find that Santa had stopped by our house!  Ethan must have been a really good boy because he had lots of presents to open!  In the past we have traded years to spend with our families on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  This year was our year to spend Christmas Eve with the Poffs.  Our plan was to open presents with them that morning and then head to Indiana later that afternoon.  Instead we moved our Poff Christmas to the Sunday before.  It was kind of nice to not have to rush around on Christmas morning.  Ethan was so exhausted from all of the events of the weekend that he slept in on Christmas morning!  We eventually had to wake up him so that we could open our presents before Kaylene and Thomas came to visit.  After opening presents, I fixed breakfast while Ethan showed off his new things to Nana and PopPop.  Then we cleaned up the house, put away our new gifts, and finished packing to go to Indiana.  We said our good-byes and left for our next round of Christmas with my family.  Ethan slept most of the way, but we did have to make a pit stop to feed a very hungry boy!  That evening we had dinner with my family and Ethan opened his presents.  We put Ethan to bed and then the big kids finished opening their presents.

It was such a wonderful holiday season!  I can't wait to continue our family traditions and to make even more new ones in the future.  The holidays have always been a special time for me, but this year they were even more meaningful as I was able to celebrate them with my son!