I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Here are Some Christmas Traditions at the Sanchez House!
I have always had a big soft spot for Christmas. For me it is not just one day of the year but a whole month of preparing, considering my friends and family and what they might love under the tree, putting up lights that will light up our spirits every morning. I know I am not the only one; I remember back in 2020 when everyone started listening to Christmas music in June just to have an uplifted mood when they needed something good the most.
I think for the most part we keep Christmas pretty simple at our house, BUT doesn’t mean it has any less heart.
Here are a couple of Christmas Traditions that I LOVE doing every holiday season.
1
Wrapping Gifts. If you do it right you only need 3 stripes of tape!
My My Grandma Gertie would always show me how to perfectly wrap a present. If you did it in a hurry, she would get after me for wrinkling the paper. It takes patience and skill. I have no earthly idea where it came from but she had these two GIANT rolls of metallic Christmas paper she would bring up from the basement for years.: one green and silver and one red and silver. They lasted years and many gifts. Her love of Christmas definitely made me love the season more and more growing up.
2
Collecting Christmas Tree Ornaments of Our Family Adventures
It happened more after I was married. Marcus and I would look for a Christmas ornament from our random adventures. We have an ornament from our wedding and one of our wedding venue. (We got Married at Como Conservatory!) We have one from our Mt. Rushmore Road trip, Mae’s First Minnesota State Fair Trip, Great Sand Dunes in CO, just to name a few). It is such a joy unboxing and reliving those memories every year when I decorate our Christmas Tree. I am greatly looking forward to when Mae will be able to join in on the fun of decorating our tree together.
3
Christmas Music All The Time
We constantly have Christmas music playing in our house during the holiday season. I am not musically talented in any way, shape, or formed. But that will not stop me from enjoying and singing my little heart out at the top of my lungs. For Christmas specifically, I will play my small collection of Christmas Vinyl. Mae has been really loving this part of Christmas this year and asking for it to be played on repeat. My favorite Christmas Vinyl I have is Ingrid Michaelson’s Songs for the Season. It is amazing, stop everything and go listen. We also love hearing old Christmas hymns so we do have several of those as well. Ones I would still like to add to our collection: Peanuts Christmas, Dolly Parton Christmas (For Marcus), She & Him Christmas Party, Bing Crosby Christmas, ect.)
Christmas cookies - For the love of sugar
4
This tradition is one that I have really grown to love more and more. I try to have just a small group of family and friends where we get together and just enjoy cookie decorating. This year I am baking everything ahead of time and having all the decorations out to make it a little easier. I am still figuring out the best way for everyone to have an enjoyable time. Christmas Music will be played and sugar will be had. At the end of the night everyone takes home I giant plate of different cookies for their families and friends.
5
Reading The Christmas Story From the Bible before Presents - True Meaning Of Christmas
This one is something we did growing up and I think it will be a tradition we keep alive. When we go over to my family’s home for Christmas, my grandpa would always open up his bible and read the story of Jesus being born and how he came to earth. I think even as a little impatient kid excited for presents it always brought us back to the real reason for the season.: The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem.
Thank you for reading things that bring joy to my heart and my family!! Do you have any Christmas Traditions that are close to your heart?! I would love to hear all about it in the comment section.
A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU & YOUR FAMILY!
