Christmas traditions

I think one of the best parts of being married is starting traditions in your own little family.  Now that Grayson is at such a fun age & knows what is going on, we are having so much fun starting new traditions with him! I thought I would share some of our traditions & would love to hear what other people do! 

G's Christmas Tree

This tree was actually mine when I was younger & I kept it in my room. It has been passed down to Grayson & he loves having it in his room! His tree has ornaments that are special to him & I'll continue to add to it as he gets older! Notice all the sock monkey ornaments? He picked out a dinosaur and rhino ornament this year. Such a boy! Griffin will also have a tree but I'm hoping to score one on sale after Christmas. He doesn't know the difference right now, right? oh, second child. 

Elf on the Shelf

 We started doing Elf on the Shelf this year. I was a little worried that Grayson may still be too young, but he thinks it's fun! Our Elf arrived on our doorstep one afternoon & G decided to name him "Doodle." SO, Doodle the Elf has been in our family for the past 2 weeks. I'm not one of the crazy people who uses the elf to do ridiculous things...he just hides in a random spot every morning. The first thing G wants to do every morning (other than drink his owange joose) is find Doodle. It's been fun! 

25 Books of Christmas

I've been collecting Christmas books over the past year so that we could do this. I have our box of 25 wrapped books by our main Christmas tree & every morning Grayson gets to open one.  Let's just say that he has now mastered the art of ripping into a present. Some of the books are traditional Christmas books, some are just fun stories, & I have several different books about the birth of Jesus. I think this is such a great way for our kids to hear the story of Jesus throughout December. 

The Lights at Opryland Hotel

 We took Grayson to Opryland Hotel last December and he LOVED it. We had such a great time walking around, looking at the millions of Christmas lights, & going to the huge ICE! exhibit. We're actually taking the boys today to see the lights & go see the Shrek Ice exhibit. This place is seriously magical at Christmas! It's beautiful!

I want to always make sure that Jesus is the focus of Christmas. Yes, we will do the whole Santa thing, but he will definitely not be what our focus is on. I always looked forward to our Christmas Eve service at church growing up & I look forward to our boys being a little older so that they can go to the service with us.  

What are some of your family traditions at Christmas?