Christmas Traditions...Old and New

Every year Christmas is a little different. We have those traditions that stay the same, but there's always something new to add to our Christmas celebrations. This year we got to have Nana Spice for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I can't remember, in our 16 years of marriage, waking up with my mother-in-law on a Christmas morning. She came out the afternoon of the 24th with her overnight bag, and stayed with us throughout Christmas Day. What a joy!!
Spicy Girl had lots of new things on her Christmas list this year. One of them was Lincoln Logs. She asked both grandparents for them...and both grandparents got them for her. Now she can make ginormous log houses!!

Well, one can never have too many calendars...right? Cooper (the dog) got her one, and her cousin got her the other. LOL!!

The other day Spicy Girl asked why she didn't have a scarf or mittens. I smiled as I knew there were some wrapped under the tree.

S.G. has been asking about Santa since she was 3. She's always wanted to believe in him, but she just thinks to literally, and couldn't really understand how he could be real. D.S. and I didn't really build up the whole Santa thing, but we certainly didn't want to tell her at age 3 that there wasn't a Santa. So, we were able to hold her off until age 5. She asked us point blank if there was a Santa, so we gave her the St. Nicholas story. We did tell her the truth, and she was a little disappointed. We told her how we all have a little "Santa" in us, and we could certainly "play" Santa. She decided she wanted to "believe" in Santa, so we played along. This year, at age 6, she decided to leave Santa pretzels and milk. We played along.

Christmas morning, we headed over to the Spicy Grandparent's house for stockings and gifts.

Traditions old.... For several years, Mamama Spice has taken the whole family to an adorable nearby town, to an old historic Inn, for lunch. It's one of my FAVORITE traditions. We get dressed up in our Christmas gear, and head north. It's been 2 years since we've gotten to go, and S.G. didn't remember going when she was younger...until they brought out the hush puppies. Yum!

What a Merry Christmas we have had. We always do. We are truly blessed.
The best part of the day was going to the family chapel, listening to Daddy Spice tell the Christmas story, and having communion together. We sang Christmas carols and ended our service with Happy Birthday to Jesus.