Intentional with Traditions

Yesterday was the funeral for my friend who passed away on November 1st. It was a good service, I shed many tears- mostly each time I looked up front at his 26 year old wife, and two precious sons (I think 5 and 2). That just was so hard for me to think about them having to go on living life without their daddy and husband. But I know that God will give them everything they need, and He already has it all under control. I was just very sad for them. And Bret's mom, dad, brother and sister too. I'm not sad for him because I know he's in heaven, I just know he will be missed so much. I just couldn't imagine. It's times like now that I'm very thankful that I don't know what my future holds. If I knew that something tragic was going to happen to someone close to me, that would be really hard not to think about it. You know?

One of the things that was said a few times was that Bret's mom was very good about being intentional with traditions. Making special dates very special and memorable. It made me think, and decide that is what I want to do as well. It's always on my mind, wanting to be better about those things. But yesterday I decided it was important enough to me now that I want to do something about it.

I started thinking if there are things that we already do as far as traditions go. I'll start with Christmas:
-Drops: this one is FUN. We've been doing this since I was little. We go to cousins and aunts and uncles houses on my moms side of the family, leave little gifts- candy, etc, ring the doorbell, and RUN!! And everyone inside knows, and yells, "DROP!" and we all run outside to try and catch the person. It's so much fun!

-When we're in Arizona, we all go over to my parents house on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve service at church, and slip into matching pjs- yes, everyone! We have a nice dinner together, hang out, maybe watch a movie, play a game, and spend the night there- that's me, Zach, the kids, Sarah, Trevor, Dallas (this will be his first one!), Julie, and Joel. Then that morning, we read the Christmas story, and all open up gifts together. And for breakfast, Zach makes us Johnson's Specials- a traditional favorite of his from his childhood all growing up- so good!Then that afternoon we go to my Aunt and Uncle's house for lunch and opening up more gifts, and just enjoying time together.

this was from 2004- I was pregnant with Teda!

This one was 2006- had Teda and Dane by now
Here's 2007- pregnant with Jett

-When we're in Colorado, our family stays at Zach's mom and Ron's house overnight (we're already staying there anyways, but it means more when I say we stay overnight!) and we wake up in the morning and Zach's Aunt Lucy, cousin and best friend Matt and his girlfrien Heather, his cousin Randy and his fiance Sarah all come over in their jammies, and we all open up gifts together. And we had birthday cake for Jesus together too! And for breakfast, we make a family tradition and favorite from Zach's childhood- Johnson's Specials- it's a mixture of eggs, sausage, hash browns, and cheese... so yummy!
Last year- 2008, Santa even came to Grammy and Poppies house to visit the kids!


-Christmas morning- this will be the third year we do this: We sing happy birthday to Jesus, and even make a cake for him- it's like a birthday party for Him. We talk about how we all get presents because we're celebrating His birthday. The kids love this one.

this was from last year in Colorado- 2008

-Jesse Tree- I got this idea from my friends Erin and Leanne. The Jesse Tree represents Jesus' family tree. We just use our regular tree and we have ornaments for each day that my kids colored last year, and I laminated, and each day, there is a devotional with an ornament that gets added to the tree. It's really cool, and the kids enjoyed doing it last year.

-Our Village- Each year, my grandma and grandpa give each of their married grandchildren a piece for their village for Christmastime. Ours grows each year, and it's fun to have it up during this time. Thanks grandma and grandpa! :)

our village from last year- 2008
-Annual Ornament- I started this last year- I got each of my kids an ornament that I felt best represented the year they had. For example, Jetts was a bottle of milk because he spent a majority of his first year nursing with me. And Dane's was the word Joy because it just describes him perfectly. How bad is it that I can't remember Teda's AH! I'll know when we pull out the ornaments. Then I attached a typed paper to each with a description of why I chose that ornament. Then I plan to give them all to each child when they leave the house- and they'll have a start to their own Christmas decorations!

Traditions I'd like to start:
-Cookie Baking Day or Evening with family- make the cookies and decorate them; just a fun time to hang out and enjoy family

-Manger and Jesus- put an empty manger under the tree (or something that looks like a manger- not sure on how that will work yet). Then each night, add a little raffia to the manger, and on Christmas Day the kids wake up to a little baby doll wrapped up in the manger, to help us to remember this is the day we celebrate Jesus' birth. I read that on another blog, and thought how cool is that!