Christmas
(By Jelina) Christmas Eve - always a favorite. We do a Re-enactment of the nativity. Each grandchild gets to play a different part every year. When they become teens they get to be the narrators of the story, or the music leader, or the piano player. We only have finger foods - everyone brings their favorites to share. We have a family bingo game for small gifts that can be swapped and traded as others get bingo. Then we do a final “white out” bingo for the last game. The last person to not have any numbers called from their bingo card wins $100. We have had a child as young as 5 win that $100 (my daughter).
(By Bethany) Gourmet Christmas Dinner - Every year for Christmas, we make fancy invitations for our parents and grandparents, inviting them to join us for a gourmet dinner. A date is set for when everyone is able to attend (usually when it is a little warmer and the roads are less slick). We get our fancy dishes out and go all out for the meal (i.e. Steak with a chipotle mushroom Gorgonzola sauce, marinated grilled shrimp skewers, homemade artisan bread, marinated roasted vegetables, homemade mashed potatoes, chocolate ice cream bowls with homemade raspberry sauce, etc). Each year our parents & grandparents know it's coming and it is great to gather and have this time together.
(By Shannon) Christmas afternoon we have a Jerusalem lunch (to show our family what it may have been like to eat during the time Jesus was born) with a beautiful and wide variety of olives, cheeses, hummus, unleavened bread, grapes, pomegranate juice, etc. Easter could also be a great time to enjoy this tradition.
(By Tracy) One of my all time favorite traditions is every year we build a nativity to set out. After Thanksgiving, I announce the medium we will be using - legos, wood, butcher paper life size, pipe cleaners, clay etc. I usually have one piece built so they can see the size, then each member of the family draws out of a bowl the character or item they are in charge of creating, and when the dead line is. My husband and teenagers LOVE this tradition as well! We keep all nativities when possible, and set them out each year. Some of them are RAD and some are hilarious - like the sheep my dad made out of styrofoam balls when they lived with us. (I think my mom made one of the wisemen that year - but the sheep was the best! 😂)
(By Gina) A few Christmas traditions we have are, having a family home evening the first part of December talking about the Savior and his birth and then going to look at the Christmas lights around downtown Caldwell. Each holiday season we get a new Christmas book. Each Monday in December we take out one of those Christmas books and read them as a family. We also have a tradition of a huge Christmas feast with extended family on Christmas Eve.
(By Krissy) For Christmas each child gets 3 gifts, just as the Wisemen gave. 1 fun one (usually from Santa), 1 needful, and 1 spiritual gift. It takes out the 'expectation' for a bunch of needless gifts and helps me focus on the Savior as I'm shopping for each category for each child.
(By Bethany) Gourmet Christmas Dinner - Every year for Christmas, we make fancy invitations for our parents and grandparents, inviting them to join us for a gourmet dinner. A date is set for when everyone is able to attend (usually when it is a little warmer and the roads are less slick). We get our fancy dishes out and go all out for the meal (i.e. Steak with a chipotle mushroom Gorgonzola sauce, marinated grilled shrimp skewers, homemade artisan bread, marinated roasted vegetables, homemade mashed potatoes, chocolate ice cream bowls with homemade raspberry sauce, etc). Each year our parents & grandparents know it's coming and it is great to gather and have this time together.
(By Shannon) Christmas afternoon we have a Jerusalem lunch (to show our family what it may have been like to eat during the time Jesus was born) with a beautiful and wide variety of olives, cheeses, hummus, unleavened bread, grapes, pomegranate juice, etc. Easter could also be a great time to enjoy this tradition.
(By Tracy) One of my all time favorite traditions is every year we build a nativity to set out. After Thanksgiving, I announce the medium we will be using - legos, wood, butcher paper life size, pipe cleaners, clay etc. I usually have one piece built so they can see the size, then each member of the family draws out of a bowl the character or item they are in charge of creating, and when the dead line is. My husband and teenagers LOVE this tradition as well! We keep all nativities when possible, and set them out each year. Some of them are RAD and some are hilarious - like the sheep my dad made out of styrofoam balls when they lived with us. (I think my mom made one of the wisemen that year - but the sheep was the best! 😂)
(By Gina) A few Christmas traditions we have are, having a family home evening the first part of December talking about the Savior and his birth and then going to look at the Christmas lights around downtown Caldwell. Each holiday season we get a new Christmas book. Each Monday in December we take out one of those Christmas books and read them as a family. We also have a tradition of a huge Christmas feast with extended family on Christmas Eve.
(By Krissy) For Christmas each child gets 3 gifts, just as the Wisemen gave. 1 fun one (usually from Santa), 1 needful, and 1 spiritual gift. It takes out the 'expectation' for a bunch of needless gifts and helps me focus on the Savior as I'm shopping for each category for each child.
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Cutting Christmas Tree (By Cristi): We like to cut down our own Christmas tree. It has always been a dream of mine to do this and now that we started doing it- I just love it! It's so fun to spend the day in the woods looking for that perfect tree to take home with us! Then we stop for hot chocolate and a bite to eat on the way home. Here are some more photos of our last year experience right here. |
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12 Nights of Christmas (by Carissa): A couple years ago we started the "12 Nights of Christmas". We put together a binder with a scripture, Christmas story and Christmas carol for each night. So every evening (staring 12 days before Christmas Eve) we pull out the binder and have a mini devotional each night. Helps to keep the focus on what is really important during Christmas time. 
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Wrapping Presents (By Anonymous): At christmas time we do something fun every year where I pick a day to wrap all the presents. I lock myself in a room, and when a present is wrapped I put it outside thr door and ring a bell. Then all the kids come running, and whoevers name is on the present, they get to carry it and put it under the tree. My kids love the anticipation and it really kicks off the season.
Christmas
ELF ON A SHELF! (By Zan): This is basically just like Carleen's cute elf she has that watches the kids to see if they are being "naughty or nice". Our elf's name is Buddy (you get to name your own) and he is a silly little guy that likes to make us laugh. Every night, once all the house is sleeping, he comes alive with Christmas Magic and fly's to the North Pole to give report to Santa on how our family is behaving. Then he fly's back to our house and finds a new place to sit and watch. But he usually does something silly to make us happy...because he's a funny little guy. One big rule though, we can't touch him because it takes away his Christmas Magic and then it's hard for him to fly back and forth. The only time we can touch him is on Christmas Eve. We can give him one big hug and tell him thank you, I love you, whatever you want. Then he will fly back home till next Christmas.
This has been an absolute JOY in our family. My hubby and I have lots of fun creating new things for silly ole' Buddy to do. Every night my phone will alarm at 9:30 - "Move Buddy!" it says. I added a few pictures of him. We add these pics into their scrapbooks every year so they can look at what their silly little Buddy did that Christmas.
This has been an absolute JOY in our family. My hubby and I have lots of fun creating new things for silly ole' Buddy to do. Every night my phone will alarm at 9:30 - "Move Buddy!" it says. I added a few pictures of him. We add these pics into their scrapbooks every year so they can look at what their silly little Buddy did that Christmas.
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(By Taren) We do a (usually silly) simple, Family Christmas photo each year and then make it into an ornament to hang on the tree.
(By Tiffany) We started "presents to Jesus." For the first family home evening in December we think about what we want to work on to help ourselves be better. We make commitments and give them to Jesus as a present. Examples are "I will attend the temple 3 times a month" or "I will stop complaining when it is time to kneel for prayers." Each child comes up with their own. We usually do about 2-4 for each person. I type them up and hang them on the fridge to look at all year long as a reminder. We put a copy in a box that is wrapped like a present and place it under the tree all month. It is the ONLY present under the tree until christmas morning. That way we remember what present is most important. It is fun to go back to past years and read what we tried working on. Some people (Mom) tend to have the same present each year as we are constantly trying to overcome trials.
Reber Family Christmas Traditions Christmas PJ's - every Christmas Eve we each open a new pair of jammies that we get to wear to bed that night. Christmas morning my kids run out to the tree to see the presents but before we open them we all sit down together and read the nativity story and pray to give thanks. I believe doing this before tearing into the presents puts the true meaning of Christmas at the forefront of our minds (instead of the gifts), and it teaches our children patience.
(By Ally) One of my favorite traditions is at Christmas time. We do this with my side of the family including any of my 12 siblings that can make it and their kids. A few weeks before Christmas (so that it doesn't interfere with other family traditions) we go to my mom's house and play games such as hide and seek, the blanket game, Just Dance, Heads Up, and all sorts of card and board games. We decorate brownie caterpillars... because it was easier than making and decorating gingerbread houses. We eat LOTS of food. And then we open our Christmas jammies and have a big sleepover in the family room. It gets crazy with how many people come but we love it and we've created a lot of fun memories.
(By Tricia) When we draw a family name for Christmas the gift you give them needs to be something you make or a service for them. This gives reach of us an opportunity to really think about a gift and make it more meaningful.
(By Anonymous) Cut our own Christmas tree in the mountains.
