Your Holiday Traditions. . .

We wanted to start off by thanking everyone that participated in our drawing!  It was a great success and we really appreciate the time you took to share your special family traditions.  It was nice to see what families do to keep the true meaning of the season in their hearts.  So again- Thank you! 

We do have a winner!  Our lucky friend will be receiving an email today with instructions on how to redeem their $25 gift certificate.  Congratulations.  So exciting!

As we mentioned last week, we are going to post a handful of our readers traditions.  There were so many great ideas and warm memories to choose from.  So grab a cup of warm something, kick up your feet and enjoy!

1.      One of my absolute favorite holiday traditions is letting the kids pick out their own Christmas ornament each year. It makes decorating the tree so much fun, reminiscing about each ornament that goes on the tree. I can only imagine when all 3 of our kids are older, how many ornaments and memories will be on that tree.

2.      My favorite childhood Christmas tradition was the Christmas program at our small little church.  We all dressed up like people in the Christmas story.  I was usually an angel with gold tinsel wrapped around a wire coathanger perched on my head.  We would all receive a brown paper lunch sack full of ribbon candy, peanuts in the shell and a big apple or orange.  We loved those bags of treats! 

3.     My favorite tradition is when I put the tree up, I get to hide the ornament, the "Christmas Pickle".   Hard to find in all the green of the tree.  My husband and kids all have a contest to see who can find it first, and that person gets some sort of special treat for the day.  (a back rub, their favorite meal that night, etc etc....nothing materialistic, just a simple gesture of their picking).  I started this when the kids were 3 & 5.   Now they are 16 & 18 and STILL love the tradition!!!!

4.     To start our holiday traditions we watch the Oskaloosa Christmas Parade together as a family all bundled up sipping coffee & cocoa. Family dinners, sledding and baking cookies so when the kids come in they have fresh warm cookies and hot cocoa is a tradition that we've had since I was a kid. Sledding at my dad's house again like I did as a little girl-he even made us snow boats with a rudder on the back which steered which direction you wanted to go. As a child my dad and I would get up really early about 2 weeks before xmas and drive the gravel roads near friends farmland and picked out our tree and cut it down ourselves and then my brothers and I would decorate the tree. No matter what traditions a family makes are very important in the bond of family. Special times that warm the heart and will be held as wonderful memories during ones life are priceless.

5.     One thing I do with my girls is shopping very early the day after Thanksgiving,this year we started at 11:oo PM,waiting in line OUTSIDE for 3hrs in the cold!! also we do some holiday baking the first weekend in Dec. ,its a all day project.

6.     My husband and I have been married for 5 years now.  Because it is still just the two of us, it usually isn't very exciting to have "our own" Christmas.  But we would like to be able to open up gifts from each other in our own home - gifts from under our tree.  So, before we pack up and go over to both of our parents homes, we choose one present to open up at OUR home.  This way we have a "Christmas" with just the two of us, but we also get to bring some presents to open up and share with our families too.

7.     My favorite Christmas activity, ohh there are so many.  I enjoy all the beautiful services our church offers during this joyous season; attending children's Christmas programs; touring the Christmas lights; sending anonymous gifts and SNOW!!!  God has blessed my life in many ways and I am so grateful.   May your holidays be joyous and filled with wonder. 

8.     My favorite tradition is that I have ALWAYS gone into my daughters  bedroom on Christmas morning to tell her "SANTA WAS HERE!!!!!". she is 31 years old and I still do it!!!!!!!!!! I think she thinks I am nuts :)

9.     Every Christmas day my mother's side of the family gets together. That evening is what I look forward to. The whole family sits around playing games and chatting about anything and everything we can. Sometimes our games get so intense that we all end up crying from laughter. I really enjoy these bonding times as I sit back and take a moment of appreciation for everything in my life.

10.  My mom made the most awesome cut-out cookies, like ever. Seriously. The best. She passed away almost 6 years ago but my family counts on me to continue that tradition. A few years back I made all sorts of Christmas shapes and really decorated them up but we all decided that just the plain old oval shape that my mom did was really the best. They just somehow tasted different :)

The recipe:
1c margarine (soft)
1 1/2c white sugar
2 eggs
2T milk
1t vanilla
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t cream of tartar
pinch of salt
4c flour
Cream oleo and sugar first, add remainder of ingredients except flour, then slowly add flour. Put in the fridge for a while, this makes it easier to roll out. Roll out on floured surface. Cut out shapes. Place on greased cookie sheet (found that solid vegetable shortening works the best) bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Cool on rack. Top with the following icing.

Icing: (I make a double batch of this for a single batch of cookies)
3oz cream cheese (can use regular or 1/3 less fat, fat free will not work)
1T margarine
1t vanilla
2c powdered sugar
Cream first three ingredients, then slowly add powdered sugar. Can tint with food coloring too. After icing, leave out on counter to allow the icing to set up. ENJOY!!!

11.  One of my favorite holiday traditions is going out to the farm to gather fresh greenery & berries to decorate my window boxes and outdoor planters. It is so fun making outdoor arrangements—almost as fun as planting flowers in the spring!

12.  My favorite holiday tradition is placing our baby Jesus in the manager setting (animals, Mary and Joseph are put out when I decorate after Thanksgiving) on Christmas eve after kids are in bed. They see that he is in it when they come down the stairs Christmas morning signifying that he was born and the reason for the season of celebration.

13.  My favorite holiday tradition - we always have decorated birthday cake (or cupcakes) with candles for baby Jesus.  We sing Happy Birthday then the little kids blow out the candles before we share this special dessert.

I knew you wouldn't be dissappointed.  Hopefully you found one that would be fun to do in your own families. 

 Well my friends we will see you next Friday! 

Thanks for stopping by.