Making Christmas Meaningful... With Lots of Memories!

Dec 11, 2016

One of my favorite things about Christmas are the memories that are made! There is just something in the air that begs for memories to be made, and I am a firm believer of more memories and less "stuff." For the last few years our family has been developing a couple of traditions that have really helped us to bond and focus on the true meaning of Christmas.

It's so easy to get caught up in the craziness of the Christmas season. We've heard tons of great ideas for making memories at Christmastime. Pinterest anyone? I am a do-er by nature, so I like to keep busy, so I have had to be intentional about what we do during the Christmas season. Here are two of our favorite ideas ...

The Jesse Tree

Have you heard of a Jesse Tree? I first heard about it in 2013 when I started MOPS. It's an advent calendar of sorts. Beginning on December 1st, we read a bible story & hang the corresponding ornament on a small tree. My kids love this tradition, and we look forward to continuing it each year.

My mothers group has had 25 ladies signed up to make a set of 25 ornaments. Then we exchanged them at our holiday party.

I am going to do a single post on this topic this week full of photos and a free printable!

Minimal Gifts

Giving gifts is a lot of fun, and we love to shower our loved ones with gifts! We also want to teach our children contentment, so we've had to find a good balance that works for us. That said, my beau and I have chosen to limit how many gifts we give our children. We really want them to understand what Christmas is truly about, and that's that Jesus was born so that He can save us.

We typically give three because the three wise men brought gifts to Jesus. We usually do one big one, and by big, I mean something like one year we got a dvd player for the car that they share, or a doll, or a ride on toy. The other two are usually an experience of some sort or small things under $20. We also ask the grandparents to limit their gifts. They are usually fine with purchasing the children's passes to the zoo or a local science center. This system works out so well for our family!

We also exchange our gifts on Christmas eve, so that Christmas day is completely focused on Jesus and the true meaning of Christmas.

Birthday Party for Jesus

This is our most favorite tradition each year! We love to have a birthday party for Jesus! On Christmas day, we bake a birthday cake and have a little party for our Savior. We sing Happy Birthday, and talk about why Jesus was born and what He did on the cross for us. My whole family loves this, and it truly makes our Christmas special and memorable!