Tradition can be a very good word....

I don't know how many of you have Family traditions, (my suspicion is that most of you do) but if not you should work extra hard to establish a few! Traditions can become powerful statements about what is important and what matters most!
Recently Ruthie (my wife) was explaining to a co-worker one of our Christmas traditions. Every Christmas we purchase a movie or one of the classic Christmas specials to watch as a family. On Christmas eve our family gathers together to watch the video but not before our children check out what is in their Christmas stockings (which this year for the first time in a long time, we did not have the chance to hang above a fireplace BUT we did get to hang them up together as a family all under one roof... for more on that, read my earliest blogs!). Also on Christmas eve our kids for the past ten to twelve years have received new Christmas pajamas. As they dig into their stockings and put on their new jammies, we sit down to watch a movie and drink Hot Chocolate!
After Ruthie explained this Daniels tradition to her co-worker they remarked..."Really?!? Our family should do something like that!"

And so I am writing to you to say.... Yes... if you don't have anything like that you are doing as a family... it's still not too late, Christmas eve and Christmas day are a few days off... come up with some simple tradition that will help your family to remember what matters most.

Have a great Christmas and a safe New Year!

A memorable Christmas season...

i grew up in a home with a single mom and remember always having a blast at Christmas! i am fairly confident that my mom didn't make a ton of money but i remember getting toys that i probably did not deserve. In addition one of my most powerful memories was getting to go to Radio City Music hall in Manhattan to see the annual Christmas show and the Rockettes. There was nothing like watching all the singers, dancers and then finally the big guy himself Santa, up on the stage welcoming Christmas to New York City!

When i was a kid we had the world's coolest (at least i thought so) artificial Christmas tree. Most people would say that the tree was ugly, hideous and tacky but to me it embodied what this time of the year was all about! As a matter of fact these Aluminum trees are enjoying a bit of a renaissance.... you gotta' love that!

Anyway we went out a few days ago actually the weekend of Thanksgiving and got our Christmas tree. We called around a few places and found out that we were a long way away from the days of our first Christmas tree purchase the very first year of our marriage... when we brought a six foot Canadian Douglas fir home for $2.50!
That right two dollars and fifty cents! But in this area that same tree could cost anywhere from $40 to $60! So we packed the family in the van, stopped at one of our favorite coffee shops to get drinks for everyone and drove out west for about 45 minutes. We cut our own tree down, had it shaken and baled for a grand total of $30... not cheap but a lot less that we first thought we might end up paying, there not too much funnier than a family of six trying to decide which tree looks the most Christmas-y! Especially when the youngest member of the family insist on whacking everyone with broken tree branches insisting that he's got a light-saber in his hands!

The live tree is one of a total of four scattered throughout the house. i will say this the tree looks great in the house. Not quite as nostalgic as the aluminum tree i remember but close!

PS. Enjoy the following link.... Holiday Fun!