Christmas Traditions!

Christmas time is the best time, in my opinion. I love the traditions that I have had since I was young and all the new fun ones I have made with my husband. There are so many festive foods, things to do, and memories to make during this time of the year. Here are my favorite traditions that we do. 

Count Down to Christmas: I grew up doing a "Kiss Before Christmas," which was a candy kiss countdown that we would make. You take saranwrap, ribbon, and chocolate kisses to make a chain. We then would cut a kiss off everyday until Christmas. I love that tradition. My husband and I did one with our favorite Christmas candies and a note of what we loved about each other. It was my favorite thing we have done.  

Black Friday: This is a must every year for us. There are awesome deals on Black Friday, but it is also really fun to go get the Christmas season started. We love the mall in Murray, Utah called Fashion Place Mall. We get a picture with the big Christmas Tree out front every year. I like to get my tubber ware containers from Walmart every year to replace my old ones. 

Lights at Temple Square: If you live or visit Utah during the season then you won't want to miss the Temple Square Christmas lights. Every year they decorate the grounds with millions of lights. The trees are covered with lights, the temple lights are gorgeous, and there are nativity scenes all over. The feeling on the grounds is so peaceful even among the hustle and bustle of all the people. I like to get a hot chocolate at The Nauvoo Café that is right on the grounds while we walk around in the cold. 

Festive Treats: The best part of the holidays is the sweets! You can either make them at home or go out and find them. I have a blog all about the best Christmas Treats that you can check out here: The Best Christmas Treats! 

Christmas Eve Party: Every year we would go to my parents house for Christmas Eve. We would have a fire going in the fireplace. There would be lots of finger foods and treats to snack on. My siblings and husband would be found at the table playing games the whole night. We always get matching jammies with my family. My husband and I slept over at my parents the first couple of years. It is just the best to be with family and have all that yummy food. 

Decorate the House: The best day of the year is the first day the Christmas tree gets put up. It's fresh and new for the season and brings so much joy into your home. We have a baby tree that is the cutest thing ever. This year is our first year with a fire place which makes me so excited. Last year my mom and I made a little felt garland which turned out so cute. I look forward to decorating every Christmas.  

12 Days of Christmas: I've done a few years of twelve days of Christmas for my husband which makes the month really fun. I have done gifts, service and date ideas everyday. (I have blogs on the service and date ideas for the countdown you can get to by clicking the links) My favorite was the service year since it feels good to serve. My husband loved it. My family had a secret Santa drop off Twelve Days of Christmas items on our front porch one year. when I was little. Such fun memories! 

A New Ornament Every Year: We get a new ornament every year. I have started doing pictures for my husband and I which is really fun to look back to the years. My mom homemade ornaments for years for us kids that we have now to add to our tree as well. I love the idea of finding something to show what you've done for the year. I want to start the tradition of grabbing an ornament on our trips. 

New Decoration Every Year: My goal is to add to my decorations every year. I try to find one new item to add to my collection. It is a cheap way to keep growing the décor collection, but isn't over doing it. I think my husband likes this tradition so I don't go over board for the year. I love the Target dollar spot for cute decorations that are a good price or I like to shop after the holiday to get good deals.

Cookie Tin: We get a couple of cookie tins every season that have the butter cookies in them. The cookies with the sugar coating are the best. It's an easy treat and has become tradition for my husband and I. You can always find the tin sitting on our coffee table every year. 

Candy Covered Almonds: Don't miss out on the candy coated almonds from the mall. We buy a bag or two of these every year. They come nice and fresh and last about a week as far as I know, we never have any left after that point. They are sweet and crunchy. I look forward to these every year. 

See's Candies Date: My favorite tradition with my husband is going to See's for a box of chocolates. I don't know how this started, but we have gone every year. We get a box to share and each pick out our favorites. It never hurts to have a little bit of yummy chocolates laying around the house during this time of the year. 

Christmas Shirts: My mom has Christmas shirts made for us every year now. There is always a theme which is fun to see what it is when we see the shirts. We have had jokes, Star Wars, the year 2020 sayings, and the Grinch theme. My mom use to make us homemade jammie pants when we were little which was so fun! 

Opening Gifts: Every year we were at my parents since we stayed over for the night, but we would find our own time to open our gifts from one another. It is the neatest part of the day. My husband is very thoughtful on his gifts and it's fun to see his excitement of giving gifts. He is the hardest person to buy things for so it's always a stress relief having him open them all and knowing there's no going back. It is a very neat time for us. I like watching the family open their gifts and of course giving gifts is the best. 

Christmas Movies: There are a handful of Christmas movies that have become tradition to watch every year. I love the Santa Claus movies, The Grinch, Christmas with the Kranks, and Hallmark Movies. My husband had never seen the Grinch until we were married and then he quoted it like crazy afterwards. Christmas snacks, snuggles, and a movie is the perfect ending to a day during the season. 

Sibling Dinner: My siblings just started this last year, but I hope it becomes yearly. We all met up for a dinner before Christmas. We exchanged gifts, talked, laughed, and took pictures. It was one of my favorite nights last Christmas season. 

Baking on Christmas Eve: We kind of just started a tradition a few years back where we baked a treat on Christmas Eve. We have made chocolate turtle candies, homemade tootsie rolls, Christmas Crack, Gingerbread cookies, and a bunch of other yummy treats. It was actually really fun having my grandma there to help, my brothers liked to help, and it gave us girls some time to chat while we baked. I want to keep that tradition going. 

Cinnamon Rolls Christmas Morning: Every Christmas morning my mom would make the Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls. We always had the orange frosted ones along with the vanilla ones too. She still does it for my younger siblings now. We tend to make cinnamon rolls now at our house, too! 

Gingerbread Houses: For some reason I love the idea of decorating Gingerbread houses even though I am not good at it. I love watching the kiddos make them and having a fun activity to do while they are waiting for Santa to come. While I was on my mission, there was a family that would do competitions every year and we got to be apart of it the year I was there. There is the cutest kit at Trader Joe's that was a really good price and looks adorable. 

What fun traditions do you do for Christmas?