holiday traditions...

so i don't know about you, but i LOVE holiday traditions! my family growing up has a few and they are so comforting and fun to look forward to year after year.  like every christmas eve we eat spagetti, there is a story behind it, don't worry, but i won't got into it here. ha! and as far back as my siblings were all old enough to buy each other gifts we have drawn names and did a secret santa type gift exchange.  my sister wears a santa hat every christmas morning.  we never open presents until everyone is up and we have eaten breakfast.  the list could go on but i think thats a good enough sample.

so when jeff and i got married we talked about the different traditions we wanted to carry on from our own families growing up and what new traditions we wanted to start for our new family.  one of those new traditions is buying a new christmas ornament each year that represents something significant from that year. and we also want to do that for our kids each year too, or atleast get them each a new ornament every year so that when they move out they already have a little ornament collection for their first christmas tree.

it's fun to get creative and think through the things that have happened and how to find an ornament to represent that. we've had some fun ones over the last few years.

our love birds from 2008 - our first christmas together and the year we got engaged, i got these at starburcks that year, where i was working at the time

our first christmas married in 2009, i got this one at Hadley Pottery which is a very "Louisville" thing - where we met, got married, had our first baby, lived together for 3 years, etc.

christmas 2010 - the year we were pregnant with baby mix

2011- malachi's first christmas and his first ornament

2011 - the year we moved to Ohio and became a Buckeye

anyway, i love this little tradition we started and it is always so fun to pull out the ornaments each year and remember when, where and why we got them. it is so good each year to remember the things God has brought us through and blessed us with.  i look forward to many more years of ornaments with meanings!

do you have any fun holiday traditions? leave a comment and let me know!