Holiday Traditions!

I'm sad that the holiday's are coming to an end. This is definitely one of my favorite times of year. I love celebrating the season with my family. I am so grateful that my parents established traditions through the years that we still do today.

My favorite tradition is celebrating the 4 advents before Christmas. Each Sunday we light the candles on the advent pyramid, read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke, eat treats, and end with a game or activity. It's a perfect way to remember the true meaning of Christmas and spend quality time together.

We also have a tradition of spending the night in Salt Lake. A few days before Christmas we get a couple of hotel rooms. We visit Temple Square, eat until we're sick, swim, and of course unwrap Christmas PJ's. This year we mixed things up a little and went to Pioneer Village instead of T. Square. All the cute pioneer houses were decorated and each had a craft or treat for us. We ate some scrumptious taffy and drank hot cider. We even saw "Father Christmas" and his reindeer.


Later that night we opened our pj's (my favorite part of the night). I loved them this year! So comfy... and cute. I think Annie and my mom looked like characters from a Dr. Seuss book.

On Christmas Eve my family gets together for a big Christmas dinner. When we're stuffed full we bundle up for a visit to the Provo Cemetery. About ten years ago we started putting ice candles on family graves. It sounds kind of morbid telling people we visit the cemetery on Christmas Eve, but it's turned into a special tradition for us. Our first year we were the only ones with our solitary candle. Through the years we've seen more and more candles appear on graves and we now bring 5-6 candles to light. The soft glow of candles can be seen in the snow throughout the grounds.


Christmas Day! My sisters and their families were all here this year. We spend the night at my parents and woke up to a tree overflowing with gifts. There were lots and smiles as gifts were opened... my favorite.

Before...
During....
and After...
It's always a little sad for me to realize that the day has come and gone. I love the season and the feelings of excitement and love. We were very blessed this year with everything we need and more. Good health, stable jobs, family, and friends.