One of my favourite things about Christmas isn't receiving gifts -- although I really do enjoy giving gifts and watching people open them! To me, Christmas equals family time and celebrating with loved ones; that means dinners and parties, outdoor activities and events. I love turning these experiences into traditions and we are slowly developing our own family tradition with the girls.
Of course, each year we always take a photo with Santa and we play in the snow, but we've also made a gingerbread house this year and taken the girls to the Santa Parade. Next year, we hope to venture to the Christmas Market in the Distillery District, as the baby's still a bit young this year.
Donny's family has a tradition of baking Christmas cookies each year. Now, I do appreciate a homemade treat, but as I've disclosed here in the past, I'm anything but a baker. For the first time, I joined in on the baking fun and we made HUNDREDS of cookies for the holidays.
Everyone had a job, from mixing to rolling, moulding and cutting. Don't ask me for any recipes -- I was a beginner this year and stayed away from the jobs where I could make drastic errors! Ha!
All joking aside, the baking was not difficult at all, but it was a lot of fun. We spent the day in our yoga pants, talked, laughed and even stopped to sample the fruits of our labour. I'm glad that I was able to join the tradition this year, and hope to continue with the girls when they're older.
By the end of the day, I was able to make care packages for my mom and grandmother, and I have some left for visitors during the holidays and for Donny, Isabelle and I to snack on every day. It really is nice and special to be able to present and share homemade goodness.
The holiday season is so much more than presents under the tree, or a big man in red. Christmas is about making memories with those you love.
What family traditions do you have during the holidays?
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