Tis the season for all the fun Christmas Traditions that come with the holiday season! As the weather gets colder, the nostalgia of Christmas overcomes my household. Traditions hold a sacred meaning in my household as they make Christmas even more sentimental and enjoyable.
Here are my Yearly Christmas Traditions:
Bull Run Festival of Lights
Every season at the Centerville’s Bull Run Camping Site, they set up the largest variety of light displays. The campground places the light displays along a road to drive thru and see the beautiful lights. As we arrive at the campsite, we always have a cup of hot chocolate full of marshmallows, and blasting Christmas music to get in the vibe. When we drive through the lights, it is like a Winter Wonderland that truly brings the holiday spirit.
Secret Santa
This tradition has run in my family for 50+ years as it was started in my family by my great-grandfather. On Thanksgiving, after we have stuffed our faces, I create a raffle of everyone’s names and place them in one of the many hats my grandfather has and I was in charge of this year. After making the raffle, I started from oldest to youngest and everyone picks the name of the person they have to get a gift for. But it’s not a regular gift, it’s a funny gift, and sometimes it can be the most outrageous gift. This tradition will always be one of my family’s favorites as we can all laugh about the gifts we all receive, but we also reminisce on the past and celebrate our loved ones that created this bond we will share forever.
Pajamas
On Christmas Eve, we all gather around my grandparents living room with the fire crackling and the room filled with love, laughter, and a large amount of heat. We pass out the Secret Santa gifts and another extra special gift, which is our next tradition. Every year, my grandma buys everyone a set of christmas pajamas to wear on Christmas Day. I always find them special because it helps Christmas feel even more real and when I look back on them I remember how Christmas was that year.
Cookie Decorating
Last, but not least, we have decorating cookies. It’s been one of my favorite traditions, mostly because the cookies are DA BOMB! We make wide varieties of cookies with sugar cookies, gingerbread, peanut butter blossoms, and snowball cookies. We make a whole day out of it fun, cutesy cookie cutters and I love the moment with my mom, grandma, and aunt. GIRLS DAY! Once all the decorating is over and done, we choose the best looking ones to save for Santa.
All of these traditions hold such a valuable memory for me and get me so excited for the holidays. I hope these traditions can be passed on to you! May everyone have a great winter break and do well on their finals! PS: if you are in need of some podcasts to help you through Finals week, check out my article here!