My family has lots of holiday traditions that I love. My mom and I always bake butter cookies together- yum! Every year, my dad wanders into the kitchen just as the cookies are done baking, and our cookie count goes down pretty quickly from there. :) I also help decorate the tree, and it's my job to hang up the stockings. Then there are the holiday movies to watch! A Charlie Brown Christmas is one of my favorites, and I admit that it just doesn't feel like Christmas without it.Christmas Eve we spend with my grandmother and my dad's side of the family. Then on Christmas Day we celebrate with my mom's side. It's a lot of fun to spend time with family. We can be a pretty wild bunch, so when we're all together, it's always a good time.
This year will be a bit different, since it's the first time that my sister won't be with us for Christmas. She'll be with her husband's family this year. It's sad to realize that the holidays as we know it are changed, and it does make me a bit anxious to think about spending next year's Christmas away from my family. The hubs and I talked about how to split our time, and since we've spent the past 3 Thanksgivings with his parents and the past 2 (soon to be 3) Christmases with mine, we're going to have to switch next year. Family and traditions are really important to me, so it's going to be hard to break the routine and experience something new. I know it's an opportunity to share my traditions with his parents, but it's still a little sad to realize that the old days are gone.
Until then, though, I do get this year with my family, and I will definitely make the most of our time together. It's only the beginning of December, and there are so many great things to do this month! First on the agenda: make hot chocolate and start baking some gingerbread!
