Tradition, Tradition!!

As we all know, the holiday season is swiftly approaching and I thought it would be fun to list some of my family's traditions. I'm sure I will not get them all but here are some that come to mind...beware this is kind of long:

Christmas Countdown Chain: This is one of my favorite traditions and even when I was the only kid at home I made my parents continue this on. We make a countdown chain for December 1st through December 25th with a specific color paper for each person. So instead of the chain being 25 links long it was 7x that. Each person knew their color for that season and had a specific "task" to do each day. The chores were on a rotating pattern. This was a very systematic chain and making it took a lot of brain power...seriously I think my mom was the only one who ever totally understood how to make it. The tasks we did were anything from lighting candles, making a Christmas goodie, wrapping a present, reading a Christmas story, doing service, to moving the star on the countdown calendar. It was a great way to not only countdown the days till Christmas but also to feel the Christmas spirit and get some Holiday tasks accomplished. I sure do miss this!

Candles: As I mentioned above with the lighting candles, we would light candles at dinner time, every day throughout the month. The last night (Christmas Eve) the candles are lit and you have to be in bed and asleep before they burn out or else Santa Claus cannot come. It always stressed me out as a kid trying to fall asleep because I was way too excited! This too had a system as you had to burn just the right amount off of the candles each night to have the perfect amount left for Christmas Eve.

Caroling: We usually go caroling sometime during the month, sometimes on Christmas Eve. We always make up plates of goodies to take. We usually go caroling to the families my parents home/visit teach. We also go to neighbors, less active church members, and widows. It is always a little embarrassing because I don't think we have the best signing voices but it is a fun way to do a little service for others.

The Nativity Story: Every year, like many families we dress up in makeshift costumes of towels and sheets and reenact the nativity story as someone reads from Luke 2. When I was a baby I played baby Jesus but when I got older I always wanted to be Mary or the Angel. My puppy Mollie was the ever faithful sheep for whoever played the sheperd. I also made my parents keep this tradition up even after my brothers were all gone.
We also added another reenactment of the nativity to our tradition ever since my freshman year in seminary when my teacher put on this activity (Bless Sister Sorenson's heart, she died of Cancer a few years ago but was the BEST teacher ever). Anyway, the presentation she did was as follows: You put each piece from a nativity set into a brown paper bag with a number on it (each in a separate bag). In each bag is a story or scripture and a song that corresponds to the character in the bag. After you read your paper, everyone sings the song and you add your nativity piece to the stable. The last piece is baby Jesus and after he is placed in the scene you turn on a light or have a light rigged (flashlights work well) so that it shines directly on the newborn Savior as you sing the final song which I believe is Silent Night. Oh I get the chills just thinking about it.

Gifts: After acting out the nativity we usually were allowed to open one small gift on Christmas Eve. I loved this because I could hardly wait until Christmas Day and this helped me survive the suspense. Also, on Christmas Day, my parents...I mean Santa... always left a few gifts out and unwrapped by the stockings. This was to show that Santa had in all actuality come the night before. It also helped if presents were big because then they didn't have to be wrapped.

Wake-Up Call: I don't know if this is a tradition or what but I always wake up super early from anticipation and wake everyone up to open presents. Even now I cannot stand the excitement. As I have grown older it is not the presents that thrill me as much as the feeling-it is the most wonderful day of all. I just love staying in my jammies all day, sipping hot co-coa to holiday tunes by the fire, and eating delicious food and candy all day. I cannot think of much else to set the mood like that.

These are a few of the main things I remember about Christmas at home. We don't do all of these anymore but try to do as many as we can. It just isn't possible to do the countdown chain when we are all in different states. I love Christmas for many reasons and traditions help make the season what it is. The most important tradition however if remembering the reason we are celebrating in the first place. I love my Savior and am grateful for His humble birth, His perfect life, and His victorious death.

And now I am curious...what traditions do you have?