Christmas Tradition

Christmas has come to a close, and the year is almost over! Hard to believe that 2008 is coming to a close...where has it gone? Well I know our year has gone to Garett!! And the way it should be.

Christmas was different this year on many levels. It was the first year we spent Christmas with only us, no other family. It was quiet to say the least. We opened presents, well mostly Garett tore paper into pieces and Hans and I opened the presents for him! Wow does he have toys!! We also went for a walk, took a nap, ate food and watched a little of the Christmas Story and a lot of basketball (not my favorite!). It was strange in a way to not get up and go somewhere, or have family here, but it was also nice in a way too. It gives us time to make our own traditions as a family. Really, it becomes a melding of two family traditions and a few of our own.

From the Evens side, we have the Christmas Story viewing. I don't think we have ever watched the whole movie in its entirety. I think that is the fun of it! We have the tradition of looking at lights, which we had planned on doing, but due to a crabby, crabby child on Christmas Eve, we opted out (there will be next year though). And a new tradition this year, we opened a present together each of us via speaker phone! It may sound a little silly, but it gave me a sense of being at home! I know now, when we are away on Christmas, it will be a new tradition.

From the Iverson's, we have steak on Christmas Eve. There was not french onion soup or strawberry junket, but there was cheesy potatoes and peppermint ice cream to replace it! We have pudding boxes in our presents thanks to Grandpa Steve. And we have cookies from the Iverson's and goodies galore. We have oatmeal carmelina bars, banana muffins, and peanut butter balls(Hans favorite). I forgot about this tradition until the Iverson family came rolling in on Saturday with boxes of food!! No one will go hungry when Laurie is around, really that goes for all year round, but Christmas seems to make it extra special.

Last, from both sides, we have the tradition of our ornaments from mom and dad/grandma and grandpa, which we open on Christmas Eve. True to form, we each got an ornament to hang on the tree. We have a family one, Hans got one, I did too, Garett got one, Jack got one and of course Lucky had hers too. She also got a present from Grandma Laurie, which she proceeded to destroy in under 30 minutes. Receiving new ornaments each year makes decorating the tree a trip down memory lane each time it goes up. It is something I always enjoyed as a child, reminiscing about the story behind the ornament. Now as an adult and a mother, I find it even more important and a precious tradition. It gives Garett a history of his mom, dad, bother and families. It is a tradition I cherish and will keep for many years to come.

So although Christmas was quiet, after Saturday it has been a different story. Since than, our house has been filled with the Iverson family, all 12 of us! It has been filled with food, laughter, fun and most importantly family. This is when I am reminded of something my mom always reminds me about the holidays, "Christmas does not have to be on the 25th of December, it can change, the date does not matter." She is right. Although Christmas, the day, was about the 3 of us, Christmas is always about family.

I hope you too, had a Merry Christmas filled with family, love and tradition!