My Favorite Holiday Traditions...

Holidays are something that I look forward to each year. I have so many wonderful holiday memories from when I was a child. Now, I'm fortunate enough to celebrate holidays with my own children and make lasting memories with them.

Holidays are such a special time filled with love, joy, and long standing traditions. Here are a few of my meaningful holiday traditions that take place each year.

• What’s your favorite holiday song? My favorite Christmas song is Winter Wonderland!
• What’s your technique for decorating your tree? For the past 8 years, the kids have decorated our Christmas tree. They pick the ornaments and choose where to put them on the tree. If they can't reach, we give them a lift!
• What’s your favorite holiday recipe to cook? It has to be Toll House Pie. I only make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's delicious!
• What do your kids love most about the holidays? Making special gifts for family. They look forward to it every year and we always have so much fun!
• What’s on your holiday list this year? Healing for my Daddy! Smiles on the faces of my children when they open up their presents and see what they asked for! It's not about the gifts under the tree, it's about making memories!
• How do you capture precious moments? I take hundreds of pictures. I rarely go anywhere without a camera (or two)!
• What’s one of your favorite family traditions? Getting brand new Christmas jammies to wear on Christmas Eve! That way we all look festive in our Christmas morning photos!

• Who do you spend the holidays with? My wonderful husband, two children, my brother, his girlfriend and my parents. I wish my sister and her family lived close enough to spend Christmas with us.
• What’s your favorite ornament? We each get a new ornament every year from my mom. It's hard for me to choose a favorite, but it would probably be the ones that the kids made me in Kindergarten!
• How do you teach your children about the spirit of giving? We always choose a couple ornaments from the "Giving Tree" at school. The kids pick the ornaments and then they help me shop for those items. We have always taught them that it's about giving and not about receiving!
• What would you like to see in your stocking this year? I'm not asking for anything for myself this year, Christmas isn't about me anymore - it's about the kids! I just want to spend time with my family and see the magic of the season through the eyes of my children.
• How do you help those less fortunate during the holidays? We do everything that we possibly can. We donate to the local food bank, Coats for Kids, Toys for Tots and the Giving Tree. We also donate a little money to the Avista program that assists people with their heating bills in the winter.
• How early do your kids wake up on Christmas morning? TOO EARLY! Lol! They are so excited about their presents and to see what Santa brought them (even though Chandler figured "Santa" out last year). They rarely sleep past 6:30am on Christmas morning.
• Does it snow where you live? If so, how much! Oh YES! We get tons of snow! A couple years ago, we had over 5' of snow on the ground for about 7 weeks - our fence was nowhere to be found!
• What’s your favorite part of Christmas? I love the music and decorations. I love the magic! I love the Christmas shows on TV. I love how exciting my kids get. I just LOVE Christmas! It's always been my favorite holiday!

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?