First, here's my Christmas Tree. We buy a real one each year because I just love them so much!! I love the smell and the look of a real tree. I even like watering it. Real trees just can' t be beat!
Next are some of my favorite Christmas ornaments.
My sister Jenny gave me this one when she still lived in California. I think it's so creative and cute.
I have 4 or 5 of these snowman bells. I love how the snowmen look when you put them next to the tree lights.
This is one of many YNS ornaments I have. I don't know if they still have that tradition, but when my Mom was directing the choir, we got a Christmas Ornament every year. This ornament is from 1988. It's hard to see, but on the flag of the note is my name. This is also the logo of YNS (or it used to be way back when). YNS, or Young Napeville Singers, was founded by my mother in 1984 and I was a member of that choir until 1990 or '91..I can't exactly remember. It was an unforgettable experience and one I wish my boys could have.
This ornament has a name. It's name is NOEL. We have a cute children's picture book about it. Grandma Judy gave it to us and we love reading the book and hanging the ornament every year.
On Christmas Eve, we always have a "Bethlehem Dinner" where we put on our bathrobes and put towels on our heads and eat a meal similar to what they might have eaten in Jesus' day. We eat stew, pomagranates, cheese, grapes, unleavened bread (tortillas will have to do), and drink yummy Sparkling Apple Cider (also called Mormon wine..lol). When I was a kid, my Mom had some wooden bowls and we ate out of those. We turn off the lights and eat by candle light. Then we clean up the meal and have our pageant. We act out the story of Jesus' birth. When I was a kid it was easier because there were more people to do the parts. This year we're going to make do with just the 4 of us. A Bucklein tradition (starting this year) will be to open one gift on Christmas Eve (pajamas). When we wake up in the morning, we need to put Baby Jesus in the manger before opening anything so we can start by thinking about Jesus.
4 comments:
Our ward did a Bethlehem dinner ward party last christmas. It was really fun. We decided to try it this year. We didn't dress up but had a "carpet picnic" with grilled chicken that had been marinated, grapes, cheese cubes, carrot sticks, broccoli spears and ranch dip we labeled "hummus" for fun. oh and I can't forget french bread that we had to "RIP" apart instead of cut with a knife. Maybe we'll take it further next year and dress up. we also open one gift on Christmas eve. With my growing up family it was PJ's and my mom still gets PJ's for everyone so we'll get those in a few days when we see them so for our immediate family I give all the kids their own box of cereal they dont' usually get like "trix" "reeses peanut butter cup" etc. This is wonderful because on Christmas day they never ask me what's for breakfast!!!! Mark and I get each other some favorite snack. fun stuff. Hope it all went well tonight and goes even better tomorrow morning.
The Bethlehem dinner sounds AWESOME!!! I really like that idea! And really... everyone should eat dinner with a towel on their head at SOME point in their life! ;) What a super great tradition! Thanks for sharing!
Nothing beats the smell of a real tree!
I loved reading about your traditions. The Bethlehem Dinner sounds so cool.
And I have to have a real tree too.
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