Adventures in Traditions ~ Bailey's "Tacky" Shirt

Today's tradition is brought to you by my blogging buddy Bailey from Becoming Bailey

(Isn't she the cutest!?)

Bailey is a college student (for another few days!) at Murry State and she will be stepping out into the world of grown-ups soon! I love reading about her college adventures. Her heart for the Lord is so encouraging and shines bright in whatever she is writing about. 

For years my family has struggled with holiday traditions. The German chocolate advent calendars that my sisters and I always received as children stopped coming when we got older. The stockings we hung on the mantle were no longer hung up after we moved to a fireplace-less house. With each passing Christmas, it felt like just another day.

Until... last year. My mom saw a photo on Pinterest that sparked her imagination. As a surprise, she had custom-made Christmas shirts made for the entire family. She thought they were so cute, while I thought they were tacky.

Since last Christmas, I've really had time to reflect on the meaning of Christmas. It's not to get great gifts, but to spend time with my family and worship our Savior. The fact that I hated a gift that was given to me with love makes me sick to think about.

That's why this year, I'm excited to wear my "tacky" Christmas shirt. In fact, I can't wait to someday get married and make my husband and children wear matching shirts. Sure, my family might not have "cool" traditions like my friends and their families, but my family's traditions are mine. I can't wait to eat a simple Christmas breakfast of cinnamon rolls, open gifts, and relax before the Christmas play... all while wearing my "tacky" shirt.

To check out Baily's blog, or tell her how awesome you think her Christmas shirt is, click on the following links! 
Becoming Bailey ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest ~ Facebook

So, do you have your tradition all ready to share on Friday? I have loved getting to read these great traditions, and I can't wait to read yours! 
   

Adventures in Traditions ~ Callie's Shopping Trip

Today's tradition is from one of the first bloggers I ever followed.

Callie is the beautiful voice behind the blog Through Clouded Glass. 

Callie is a follower of Jesus, wife, mother (to 2 cute kiddos and another on the way!), and a dental hygienist. 

Her blog is inspiring is so many ways. Callie does her own blog designs, and has some great tips for any DIY bloggers. She shares about her family, faith, and insights of what God is teaching her. I am always encouraged when I read Through Clouded Glass.  

When Veronica asked me to write a guest post about one of our family traditions, I had a really hard time picking one.  I was blessed to grow up in a wonderful Christian family, and I have so many good memories of things we used to do together on the holidays.

First, I should probably introduce myself!  My name is Callie, and I blog over at Through Clouded Glass.  My husband and I have been married for five years, and we have two adorable kids and one on the way!  We are generally still trying to figure out which activities are going to become our family traditions (I'm thinking our local Christmas parade might be one of them - we have plans to go the weekend after Thanksgiving!).

Since we're still figuring out our own future traditions, today I'm going to share one of the family traditions from my childhood.  I ran through so many memories in my head, but one thing that I remember always looking forward to every Christmas season was our annual Christmas shopping day.

We would pick a day sometime in December to be our shopping day for my mom.  We'd wake up, and I would pick out my favorite wintery outfit to wear.  Then my brother and sister and I would pile into my dad's truck, and off we went.

My mom would head out separately to get some shopping done herself, so it was just us kids with my dad.  We'd usually stop somewhere and get some juice or something to drink.  Then we'd take my mom's wish list and go hunting for things to buy her for Christmas.  We'd make sure to buy a new Christmas CD to listen to as we went from store to store.

Sometime in the midst of our shopping we'd stop for lunch, and we would always go to Arby's.  My dad would let us order whatever we wanted, and I usually just got a roast beef sandwich and a root beer. 

After we finished our shopping we would meet up with my mom and we'd all go out to a movie together - then afterward we'd go to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard before we headed home.

It was fun for obvious reasons, but I think my favorite thing wasn't the shopping and buying, or the movie, or the eating out.  I think my favorite thing about our shopping days was just getting to spend time with my dad.  Even though it was all three of us, not just me, it was so fun for us kids to get the whole day to have dad just to ourselves.  We'd chatter and laugh and sing Christmas songs.  It was a sweet time, and I still miss it when I think back on it.

(My dad and me on Christmas Day, twenty-ish years ago.)

I don't know if an annual shopping day will be something that Derek will do with our kids or not (since I can't exactly force him to plan a day of shopping for me!), but I will definitely encourage him to just head out with the kids without me to do something fun, especially during Christmas.  

We will make a ton of memories together as a family, and the kids ail make a ton of memories with just me.  Sometimes the memory-making with just dad has to be a little more intentional, but I know from personal experience that those memories are very special.  I want our kids to have that too.

Through Clouded Glass ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Twitter

Aren't traditions the best! If you would like to share a family tradition, you will get your chance on Friday, December 13th! Come on back here for the Adventures in Tradition Link Party! Our final tradition will be shared by Bailey from Becoming Bailey ~ And it's one that you don't want to miss! 

Adventures in Traditions ~ Veronica's Stockings

I can count on one hand the number of girls I've met with the name Veronica. 

And today's tradition is brought to you by a super amazing girl, named...

Veronica! 

Veronica is the girl behind the blog Passion, Pink, & Pearls. Her blog's name is a perfect description of her. Passion for the Lord. Pink, the best color! And Pearls - classic and classy accessory, as well as the pearls of wisdom Veronica shares on her blog.  

How great is the name Veronica?! If Veronica hasn't already convinced you, maybe I, Veronica from Passion Pink and Pearls, can convince you! Ha! Yep, we have the same name...hence my possible biased opinion of it being a great name.
I'm not here today to just talk about how sweet the name Veronica is, but really to talk about one of my favorite traditions during Christmas. When Veronica emailed me about this series she wanted to put together I knew instantly which tradition I wanted to talk about. It's a simple on really and as I think longer there are so many more that I could share too but for some reason this one has stuck to me.
What is it? Opening stockings in my parents' bed. I'm not even kidding when I say that I've done this my whole life with the exception of last year.

We almost always end up with something matching out of our stockings.

There's something sweet about sitting in my bed with my parents and sisters all dressed in our Christmas jamies, my sisters and I all bright-eyed and cheery, my parents groggily waking up and trying to bring their energy up to the same level as theirs. As time went on we decided to read the story of Jesus' birth in bed right before we open stockings. The idea was to put our hearts in the right place for the remainder of the day. It was a sweet moment. Then we would all sit in the bed and open parts of our stockings one at a time, my sisters and I swapping items, teasing our parents about their ever so exciting new tubes of toothpaste and favorite magazines. Stockings were fairly simple growing up, we'd find coloring books or a new hairbrush, candy and little trinkets. Nothing terribly expensive just little, fun and surprising!

Matching t-shirts from stockings

I love the memories of Christmas beginning with sitting in my parents' bed an opening stockings so much so that I've already introduced it into my husband and my traditions. Being married is funny especially around the holidays. There are some things each of us are so definite about, others we are willing to change, and others that we want to introduce to be all new. Our second married Christmas is coming up here fast and I'm so excited to see what else we introduce into our typical Christmas time traditions.

Kevin and I opening stockings in OUR bed on our first married Christmas

And just because I couldn't leave without mentioning some of my other favorites:
The Candlelight Service at church (often Christmas Eve) Driving around fancy neighborhoods all decked out with Christmas lights Ice skating with Kevin Buying a real Christmas tree soon after my birthday (which is also my mom's, Dec 6) Placing out my mom's collection of Nativity scenes The baking frenzy
I can't believe the Christmas season is here! This year went by incredibly fast and it seems like it was just last year that my husband and I were celebrating our first married Christmas. I shared last week some things that I just won't want to miss this season, do you have any Christmas bucket list items for this year? 
I'd love if you would pop by my blog and share it with me.  MANY thanks to Veronica for allowing me to bug in on her space today!

Passion, Pink & Pearls ~ Bloglovin ~ Facebook ~Pinterest

Aren't traditions the best! Since getting married Daniel and I have started a tradition of filling each other's stockings with fun little gifts! If you would like to share a family tradition, you will get your chance on Friday, December 13th! Come on back here for the Adventures in Tradition Link Party! Up next, sharing her family traditions is the author of one of the first blogs I ever followed! Come back tomorrow to hear all about Callie from Through Clouded Glass and a tradition from her childhood! 

Adventures in Traditions ~ Cassy's Recording the Moments

Today's tradition is from my friend in real life, Cassy! 

Her blog and business is

She is truly the most artistic person I have ever met. She is always creating something. Some of my favorite memories from high school involve Cassy and crafting, sewing, or singing with her. But enough about that, on to the tradition!  

Greetings Adventure followers! I’m Cassy, one of Veronica’s friends from high school, and of Art in the Attic Studio and Generation Home & Building Center. I love keeping up with Veronica, even though we don’t live close by anymore, it’s easy to keep up since we both blog. Veronica did a guest post for me this past summer on DIY home improvement tips, and it’s a pleasure to be able to return the favor.

Simon Family, Christmas 2012 

For the last decade our Christmas routine has been of little deviance from this: Christmas Eve morning we go to my husband's parents’ house and spend the day with his parents, brothers and sisters until Christmas mass at 4pm. After mass we go to my parents’ house and spend the evening with my parents and sister. We get home at about 9, and for the last few years of the decade we put our over-tired kids to bed. Then Christmas morning we spend together, opening gifts & having a nice breakfast, playing with new toys. Around 11 we'll head over to one of Paul's aunts' houses or his parents if it's their turn to host his mothers' side of the family. (We celebrate with his dad's side the Sunday before, without fail, my mother's side varies when we get together but we always do, and my dad's side gathers early in the new year.) As you can probably tell just from our 2-day Christmas routine- Family is at the center of it.

Stangler Family 2008

Food is always present. I don't think that's unusual, there is someone who loves to cook in every family it seems... though let me be clear: it isn't me! I would love to eat the food that you prepare, and I'll contribute, but not more than my share! Luckily in every family combination mentioned above, there is at least 2 people who like to cook and are much better at it than I am.

Stangler Family 2012

I once said to Sandy, my mother-in-law, that she didn't have to feed us two meals on Christmas Eve, we could fend for ourselves for at least one meal and I didn't want her to have to spend so much time cooking for us. She was offended. Once again, I stuck my foot in my mouth. After I explained that I didn't want to be a burden, she smiled at me and said "Cassy, I love to feed my family!" Oh. Okay. Well, I guess I love it when my family isn't hungry, but I wouldn't say that I enjoy the preparation part. I'm so glad, and so blessed, to have family members that do!

 Last year my mom's side celebrated Christmas in November on the north shore.

Simon Family 2007

My contribution to Christmas has always been photos. I'm the one who says "Okay everyone! Picture time!" and line everyone up for a family photo. We don't always take them in the same places; last year when we took pictures in my parent's basement with the kids' new Plasmacars was a fun switch from our usual pose on the couch. Sometimes we have extra participants, like when my cousin Frank and his family was here for Christmas or a girlfriend or boyfriend that doesn't last. We don't shy away from including these extra characters in our story; they were there on the day, so they belong in the storytelling of it.

Stangler Family 2010

I do this with both my side and Paul's, and with my mom's side. My mom's side of the family is the smallest of all the extended family, and about the max for a workable number of subjects. My mom has one sister, who with her husband has 2 daughters, just like my mom. I'm the only one (until next year!) of the 4 grandkids who is married, and again, my kids are the only great grandchildren. So with my cousin's fiance, there is a total of 15 of us. My dad's side is a moving number of about 30, Paul's mom's side is about 40, and his dad's side is (yikes) around 70. And yes, they get together at Grandma Simon's house, not a social hall. That is one big pile of shoes. So you see why I don't go the distance on the group family photos for all sides: there simply isn't a couch big enough.

Simon Family 2011

 It's so cool to look back at the years of photos from Christmas. The kids sometimes look and smile, and sometimes they don't. Sometimes they're making funny faces. They're posed, a little bit, but they're more real than a professional session. They're a snap-shot in time on an important day. I might be lazy in the kitchen, and my culinary contributions are often the simpler dishes. I'm not the best storyteller for the family either- as I hate scrapbooking with a burning passion. But I keep pretty organized files, and back them up regularly. Recording the moments, that's my contribution to our Christmas tradition.

Art in the attic studio ~ Facebook 

Ok, who's going to be taking a family picture this year now?! If you would like to share a family tradition, you will get your chance on Friday, December 13th! Come on back here for the Adventures in Tradition Link Party! WARING! Don't be confused when you come back on Monday and see that Veronica is sharing her tradition. It's another Veronica!! Veronica from Passion, Pink, & Pearls will be sharing her tradition - and it's a good one!! 

Adventures in Traditions ~ Rebecca's 10 Traditions

Today's tradition 

(actually we have a list of 10 traditions today!) 

is brought to you by Rebecca at Knit By God's Hand

In her own words, Rebecca has been blogging since before blogging was cool. She was one of the first followers of Adventures of D and V and she is such an encouragement in so many ways. She loves photography, Steven Curtis Chapman, her puppies, her hubby, running, and Belle from Beauty and the Beast! 

First, let me say that I'm honored to be joining up with Veronica to talk about my Christmas traditions.  Christmas is so full of excitements & joy.... & traditions are always everywhere.

You see the PJ's on Christmas Eve, & all the Sneaky Santa stuff, or the big one that I love to see all the pictures, that creepy little fellow, the Elf on the Shelf.  That seems like so much work to pull off every night, but thank goodness for Pinterest - right?

Well, today, our traditions may be a little different, because there are no Elf on the Shelves in our home.  Why?  Because we don't have little ones running around.  My husband & I have been together for 21 years but never were able to have children.  I do have step children but they are all grown up & on the holidays, they usually spent Christmas at their mother's & we would get them after Christmas.

So yeah, different traditions... but I think its good to hear other traditions just to let others know you're not alone.  If you don't have children of your own, or if you are single, or if you are married with 20 kids (Hello Mrs. Duggar) everyone has their own tradition...  Nothing with being different - right?

Tradition #1 - Timing of the tree & decorations

For us, our traditions start right at Thanksgiving.  The tree MUST go up no later then BlackFriday.  I mean, we have gifts to start wrapping & they need a place to go.



Tradition #2 - Don't touch the tree or decorations

To add to that tradition, my husband is NOT allowed to do anything except carry all the boxes up the steps & set up the tree.  Traditions sometimes come with strict rules & if those rules get crossed, it ain't pretty. :)




Tradition #3 - A special shopping day

December fills up quick for us with Christmas parties & events so we have a tradition of trying to take a Monday or a Friday off work so we can enjoy a day to ourselves.  To try & get some shopping done, to try & let some of the hustle & bustle slow down.  Nothing better then shopping on a work day... at least before the kids get out for Christmas break.




Tradition #4 - Cookies are a MUST

I'm not a big cook.  I try, but usually don't have a lot of time to cook big dinners.  But I do love to bake & time usually doesn't allow for that either.  But sometime in the few days before Christmas, I'll make cookies.  I love taking cookies to the youth group where my husband & I teach.  Kids always will make you a favorite if you feed them cookies.  Any leftovers can go to work with my husband... but let's just stop & laugh at that... leftover cookies.  Do they exist?




Tradition #5 - Early Family Get together

This is similar to our family get togethers & trying to get a picture

Its always so hard to get all the family stuff in one day on Christmas Day when there are so many family members & brothers & sisters that have families & in laws they need to get to .... so my husband's sister took it in her hands & said, OK, every Sunday before Christmas, that's when we'll celebrate together. It works out so well.  Like this year, its December 22.  Right dab next to Christmas.  We get together, have dinner, enjoy each other... & having it a little bit before Christmas, its just nice to celebrate early.  Its probably my favorite tradition that happens.


Tradition #6 - Christmas Eve service

Our church has service at 11:00pm on Christmas Eve. We are pretty lucky in the fact that our church is just 2 miles down the road from us.  I'll be honest, if we had kids that needed to be in bed, or if we lived 20 miles from the church & that meant driving home after midnight, that would be a hard tradition to keep up.  There is something special about sitting in a little church with candle lights glowing & singing "Silent Night"


Tradition #7 - A Christmas Story Marathon

We watch it from the time it comes on & leave the TV on that show all night & all day on Christmas.  I will literally wake up every time during the same part all night long.


Tradition #8 - Breakfast & Gift wrapping

Ricky & I usually try to sleep in.  No kids in the house means no early Santa wake up urgency so we rest. A day off work - ahh - let's sleep in.  But once I get up I usually head into the kitchen for breakfast.  We don't normally do big breakfast's at our house, but on Christmas, we get it all.  Omelets with mushrooms & spinach, biscuits, pancakes.  Yummy tummy on Christmas morning.  And while I'm doing this, Ricky is always in the basement wrapping up my gifts.  I don't know why he waits, but it is ALWAYS every Christmas morning that he's wrapping things up. I tell him just bring up the gifts in the bags, I don't care.  But he wants me to be able to rip off paper.  Who doesn't love ripping paper on Christmas Morning?



Tradition #9 - FUN!!!

We let our bellies rest a bit after the food fest & then we celebrate Christmas together & with our dogs.  Give them their stockings.  Yes, our dogs get stockings, which usually involve bones that will keep them busy while we open gifts.  We sit in the middle of our floor & have our own little Christmas.  It's always the best part of the year for me.  Just the two of us, laughing like kids at all the funny, goofy, thoughtful gifts.  Then we head over to my parents house & keep the fun going with dinner & more celebrating.



Tradition #10 - Birthday Cake for Jesus!!




We have lots of birthday cakes in December... its my husband's birthday ON Christmas Eve.. .my birthday is 5 days after Christmas, but the one cake that is most important is the one we have for Jesus.  I always wanted my nieces to know why we celebrated Christmas so when they were born, I started that tradition.  We sing Happy Birthday Jesus & end the night with SUGAR!  YEAH!!!!  Just as Jesus would want it ... I'm sure!

Cant wait to see everyone else's traditions.  What you do with your families... the ideas to start more traditions in my house...

Praying everyone has a blessed Holiday!  Jesus is the Reason for the Season!

Knit By God's Hand ~ Instagram ~ Rebecca Jo Photography on Facebook

Thanks for sharing Rebecca! Aren't traditions the best! If you would like to share a family tradition, you will get your chance on Friday, December 13th! Come on back here for the Adventures in Tradition Link Party! Tomorrow is a very special post. A friend of mine from before blogging was even invented is sharing her tradition! Cassy from Art in the Attic Studio is a good friend of mine from high school and I am so excited for you to read about her tradition of recording the moments! 

Adventures in Traditions ~ Susan's Thanksmas

Today's tradition is from Susan

Susan is a farmer's daughter turned farm wife. 

Her blog is so bright and cheery, filled with recipes, accounts of farm life, and farm faith.

I am always encouraged when I read her blog. 

Thank you Veronica from Adventures of D and V for asking me to write a post about our holiday traditions. I am excited to participate and hope you and your honey are having a great little vacation!

So.

You would never know it from Pinterest or from most blogs, but we all know the holidays can be VERY stressful, and sometimes, you just can't wait for them to be over so life can get back to normal. Can I hear an "Amen"?

Decorating. Cooking. Christmas programs. Parties. Parties. Parties. Or wondering why no one is having parties. Family gatherings. Gifts. Unrealistic expectations.

We all have an idea about how we want our Christmas traditions to go, but sometimes we just can't get other people to cooperate in our dream holiday. You may feel like your own desires get lost in the gift wrap and tinsel. Or, maybe you are that person who insists on her own way and makes other people miserable. I've been both.

I'm one of 3 daughters. I have seen over and over how the wife usually has the power when it comes to the family social calendar. I've even heard women say, " I told my mother-in-law I would never be away from my parents at Christmas."

I'm embarrassed to admit for the first years of our marriage, I squeezed in my husband's family during holiday time, but felt that the real celebration was with my family. We would rush away from my in-law's, not spending an equal amount of time with both.

My view of the holidays changed once my 3 sons were born. I realized then, that one day I was going to be the mother-in-law. It broke my heart in advance (I'm a worrier like that, projecting into the future-it can be a curse and I don't recommend it!) to think I might have a daughter-in-law or daughters-in-law who might want to grab my sons and their future kiddos to hurry away from my home.

So, I decided to put on my big girl pants and get a grip. I began to see the holidays through less selfish eyes. I realized that I was teaching my sons how their wives should treat their mother-in-law (Me)  by how I was treating mine.

I began to be very intentional about my relationship with my husband's mother and the rest of his family, and it made a huge difference. I love my husband's siblings and their kids like my own now. They are MY FAMILY, too.

A few years ago, we started celebrating "Thanksmas" on this side of the family. The party is held the Saturday after Thanksgiving and everyone tries hard to come because it is sooo fun.

And crowded.

And loud.

We celebrate Thanksgiving with a traditional turkey dinner at noon and then in the middle of the afternoon, the Christmas tree comes out and we celebrate Christmas! It was just too much to ask all 50+ to gather twice in a month.

This year will be bittersweet because Brad's mom is moving away from the farm a few days later and into a great little house just down the road from us. We are all happy for her and it is the right decision, but Thanksmas will be a happy/sad occasion for all of us, and probably Mary, most of all.

I guess my point in all of this, girls, is to remind us that Christmas traditions are fun and special, but the real goodness comes from the people you love- no matter when you celebrate or how you go about it.

But, you already knew that, didn't you?

A Vintage Farmwife ~ Pinterest

What a fun idea to combined the best of both holidays so everyone can be together! If you would like to share a family tradition, you will get your chance on Friday, December 13th! Come on back here for the Adventures in Tradition Link Party! I am so excited for you to meet Rebecca from Knit By God's Hands tomorrow. She is up next and she has 10 Christmas traditions to share! 

Adventures in Tradition ~ Libby's Toy and Joy

Today's tradition comes from Libby 

I first got to know Libby because we were partners in a swap. And it turned out that we have tons in common: we both love the TV show FRIENDS, we both love to drive with the windows down and the music up, and we both are married to guys named Dan, to name a few! Here's Libby! 

Hi, I'm Libby and I blog over at Health, Love & Fire. When Veronica asked me to share one of our holiday traditions, I thought about all the fun things our family does around the holidays. I thought I could share our tree expedition day where I walk around at least two tree lots with my 12 foot pole (to make sure I get a tree that is not too big or too little to fit our 12 foot ceilings), our christmas cookie baking day where we try out different recipes but always go back to my great-grandmothers secret recipe, or our christmas day traditions of always opening gifts and playing games and listening to christmas music. All of those are fun traditions that I look forward to every year, but I wanted to write about something a little different, a little more unique, and a little closer to the real meaning of christmas. 

One of my favorite traditions is a tradition that my Husband and I share with our Fire Department family. My husband Dan is a full-time firefighter/paramedic and has been part of the same department for 11 years. Throughout the holiday season, families who can't afford to buy their children gifts for christmas come down to the station and fill out paperwork to be part of the Toy and Joy program. Once they have filled out paperwork, members of the department check the families and verify that all of the names and ages of the children are correct. Their names get imputed into a system and they cards are created with all of their information on them. This helps with knowing how many toys to purchase, who to wrap gifts for, and how to deliver the toys. 

Starting right after Thanksgiving, a group of us pick a Tuesday night and all meet at a local store to get our assignments. Current members, past chiefs, and family members all spend a couple hours picking out hundreds of toys for children ages newborn to 17. Dozens of carts are filled and shelves are emptied as we purchase hundreds of dollars worth of toys, books, and gifts. We gather coupons, have gift card donations from the employees, and pick certain nights to get the most discounts possible. From baby dolls to transformers, bottles, to basketballs, our carts and hearts are filled with the fun memories of childhood and what gifts kids would want to open on christmas morning. 

The group who bought all the gifts! 

Look at that receipt! 

You can see how long the receipt is! 

After we have purchased and received all the toys and have them organized by gender and age group, we are ready to wrap. Three to four nights a week during the entire month of December we all gather down at the station and wrap presents for the families. Its fun to pick out different toys and games to wrap for these children and imagine how excited they will be christmas morning to open them. Just think, if we didn't wrap gifts for these children, there are some who wouldn't have anything to open on Christmas morning. 

Dan trying out one of the donated bikes! 

On Christmas Eve, the fire department gathers and delivers all the toys. It takes us about 4 hours to fill the boxes with more toys and stuffed animals, add in candy canes and a christmas card, and drive all over town to deliver the boxes of gifts. Seeing children's faces light up when they see that santa has sent them gifts is such an amazing thing. It's so easy to forget about others that are less fortunate than yourself, but being able to give back in such an amazing way is life changing. 

All the bikes, waiting to be delivered! 

When I married a firefighter, I didn't just marry in to his immediate family, I got an entire fire department family as well. When I think about the different traditions our family has, some of my favorite ones are the ones we share with our family at the fire department. Not only do our firefighters share a bond, but all of their loved ones do as well. I am so thankful for the support, love, and traditions we all share during the holidays and all year long. I look forward to meeting some of you and getting to know you fellow bloggers.  I encourage you to find a local program like our Toy and Joy program this holiday season, and donate a toy or your time to help make a child's christmas morning better! I can honestly say, it will be one of the highlights of your holidays! 

Health, Love, & Fire ~ Instagram ~ Twitter ~ Pinterest

 

Wow! What a special tradition for so many people! I have to agree with Libby, some of my most treasured holiday memories come from times of serving others with my family. If you would like to share a family tradition, you will get your chance on Friday, December 13th! Come on back here for the Adventures in Tradition Link Party! Susan from A Vintage Farmwife will be sharing her "Thankmas" tradition tomorrow!