The Magic of December

December is upon us and I am so excited to share with you some of my favorite Christmas traditions. Each December, for as long as I can remember,  my mom has stopped at nothing to create a wonderland of Christmas magic, filling nearly every day of the month with traditions and festivities.  I am anxious to try my hand at these traditions this year so that my little boy can begin to experience the wonder and excitement of the way my family does Christmas!  I hope you enjoy following along!

I will start off by telling you about the first two on the list.

O Come Let us Adore Him Advent

Advent calendars are a wonderful and exciting way to keep the anticipation of Christmas day alive in the hearts and minds of children and adults alike. Over the years my family has used various kinds of advents- ones with chocolates hiding behind paper doors, tiny wooden cupboards opening each day to reveal even tinier presents, rings removed each day from a paper chain ...  but my favorite has always been the 

O Come Let us Adore Him Advent, an advent that follows the life and ministry of Christ, with scriptures, songs, and simple activities for every day of December leading up to Christmas.  I love this advent because it fills the Christmas season with a constant reminder of the true reason we celebrate. And it is a special way to teach children about the life of Jesus Christ. 

I am excited this year to do this advent with my little family. To take part in it with yours, I have included a link  here where you can print a copy. 

My Eastern European Nativity

In the spirit of the true meaning of Christmas and in conjunction with this advent,  we set out our nativities at the beginning of the month. Stationed various places around our house, they serve as an important reminder to keep our thoughts focused on the most important part of Christmas.  Try to set out at least one nativity in your home! 

My  olive wood nativity I bought while in Bethlehem

Nativity from Mexico

Peruvian Nativity

In addition, my family has made it a tradition to attend the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas Concert and the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional each year. Both are also broadcasted live on TV and satellite, and no matter your faith, are excellent ways to ring in the Christmas spirit. In fact, the Choir's Christmas Concert has more viewers each year than almost any other Christmas television broadcast. This year Tony Award winning singer Alfie Boe and Emmy Award winning journalist Tom Brokaw will join the Choir in their performance. Here are links to find out more information about The Choir Concert broadcast and The Christmas Devotional.

We also read the beautiful article "Daddy, Tell Me a Christmas Story," published in a Kansas newspaper in 1959. Here is a link to the article. It's short and a tear jerker. Definitely worth your time and a beautiful tribute to the true Christmas story. 

 Whatever you and yours do this December, remember to keep in your hearts and minds that Christmas, as Dr. Seuss's Grinch reminds us- Is not about ribbons, and is not about tags. Its not about packages, boxes or bags. No, Christmas doesn't come from a store... Christmas instead means a little bit more.  

O Come, this December, and let us adore Him. Let us remember Christ our King. 

The Bringing in of the Tree

This tradition stems from an age-old custom celebrated by the late, famed author Tasha Tudor who wrote a gorgeously, self-illustrated book Take Joy! filled with amazing Christmas stories and traditions. Beloved by my mom for her deep respect of tradition, many of our Christmas customs have been adapted from hers. 

Tudor believed one of the most special and exciting delights of Christmas is when the tree is first brought in. For her family, there was a big to-do the day the tree was selected and cut down.  In this fashion, my family likewise has a fun time when the tree is brought into our home and decorated.

Growing up, we would always go to select a real fur from a tree lot. I can still feel the chill of the air on those pine scented, snowy nights when we'd stand in the frozen lot picking out the perfect Christmas tree. A fire always crackled in an empty oil drum where we could warm our hands and noses while cracking open salty peanuts that the lot provided guests.  Dad then would strap our prized tree to the top of the car and away we'd go! 

Once home, while dad set to work setting up and stabilizing the fresh tree, our house filled with the delicious aroma of our mom's homemade sugar cookies. The dough was rolled out and we would cut tree shaped cookies from it. Then, once baked, we would frost them green and decorate them to look like christmas trees! 

Sitting down to enjoy our warm cookies with a glass of milk, our mom would read to us the story Why Christmas Trees Aren't Perfect by Richard H. Schneider and then with Christmas music blasting, we would set to work decorating the tree as a family. 

My christmas tree this year:

As part of our Tree tradition, we would also make a trip to the Festival of Trees to see literally hundreds of beautifully decorated christmas trees being auctioned for Primary Children's Medical Center. Many states have a variation of this Festival for their local Children's Hospital or other charity, although most are not quite as big as the one in my hometown. 

This year, I was excited to find that my current city is one that has an annual Festival of Trees, so we went as a family. It was tastefully done, hosted by a luxurious resort, but very small in scale. There were only about twenty trees. Nevertheless, it was a memorable outing!

 The "Visions of Sugar Plums" Tree- very creative!

My husband and I both disliked the bear tree when we first saw it but quickly changed our minds when we read the plaque next to it.  It explained that instead of displaying the tree in their home, the donor hoped that the purchaser would dismantle the tree and distribute each bear to a sick child at the Children's hospital. What a beautiful idea.  

This last tree was dedicated to the Hope of Children. It explained that children are the greatest examples of hope. They have hope that the bells of Santa's sleigh will be heard the night of Christmas Eve and hope that the morning will bring presents under the tree just as children who face terminal illness have hope that one day they will be healed- that one day they will be able to run, and jump and play as healthy children do. 

The trees may have been few in number, but their spirit was grandiose and powerful!

Check back soon- more traditions coming in the next couple of days!