My Favorite Holiday Traditions

Well, it’s almost Christmas so I thought it might be fun to talk about traditions.

I grew up in Florida and the neighborhood we grew up in had the BEST tradition!  Each year sometime in December people would come around selling tea light type candles and white lunch sized paper sacks.  Everyone in the neighborhood bought them, I mean EVERYONE.  Then on Christmas Eve you’d find us all out in our yards filling the bags 1/2 way up with sand and adding a candle in each and placing them 10 paces apart all the way around the yard at the street.  We had to buy quite a few since we lived on the corner.  Then as it got dark we would all light our candles, and the electric company would come out and turn off all of the street lights so that the lights were only lit by the candles lining the streets!  It was beautiful!  It went on for miles and miles.  What I remember being told as a kid was that we were lighting the way to the nearest church so the sinner could find their way on Christmas Eve.

After ours were all lit, our neighbor, Mrs. Reeves, would have an open house with all sorts of great food and treats and we’d all gather and play games and have an awesome time!  That’s something I will NEVER forget!  

Another tradition we had each Christmas season was my Mom would bake all sorts of holiday cookies and treats and make up a cute plate full and cover it in plastic wrap and then my brothers and I would deliver them to the neighbors.

When our kids were little we started our own Christmas tradition in our home that we continue today even as they are all grown with kids of their own.  After all of the presents have been opened on Christmas morning, Hubby reads the Christmas story from Luke 2 and then I bring out a coffee cake and we sing Happy Birthday to Jesus and celebrate!

Now that our kids are grown, I wish we had created even more traditions that they can look back on fondly.  It’s so important to make memories with your kids and traditions carrying through the years are a great way to do that.

It’s never too late to start!  This year I have cleared the tree of all ornaments and have decided to make ornaments. We’re making one for each person in the family with their name on it and as the family grows we’ll add more ornaments.  (Post to come)

What traditions do you carry on from growing up, or what traditions did you start with your family?