What is Christmas? Traditions? Someone's Birthday?

Yay for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day falling on a weekend this year. It was not my year to work Christmas at the hospital nor my weekend to work, so I enjoyed both days with the family at home. As the kids are getting older, I seem to get one particular question a lot around the holidays... "what are some of your Christmas traditions?" I had to think about it because I am not sure we have anything set besides reading a advent book every night with coloring sheets. As I now reflect on the last few days I think there are a few fun staples we might keep doing pertaining to traditions....

Christmas Eve: go to the movies for a mid-day matinee show, eat a nice dinner together, attend a candlelight worship gathering in the evening, drink hot chocolate while driving around looking at winter lights, open 1 gift before bed via riddle scavenger hunt, and watch Home Alone (just Wes and I at this point)

Growing up my family, and I believe Wes' family, always let each person open 1 gift on Christmas Eve. I knew I wanted to give 1 thing to the girls last night but I knew with 2 kids opening 1 gift the excitement wouldn't last long. Solution= clue scavenger hunt to find your gift. It was a last minute decision this year so I quickly came up with a few rhyming clues and hid them around. Each clue took the girls to a different spot in the house with new clue. Finally they found their wrapped gifts which were puzzles. 

Sadie snuck out of bed a few times on Christmas Eve to spy on the stockings

 Christmas Day: open stockings, eat a big breakfast/brunch, open 3 gifts per child (for 3 wise men), church worship gathering if available, nap......

Levi posed with his beloved pacifers 

if you ever want to get someone a gift, Sadie is a good receiver

 After church we had lunch with our neighbors and then we ended Christmas night with friends and good lasagna at the Molls house. The girls coordinated...Anna, Ariel, Anna, Ariel, .....

 After I tucked the girls in to bed tonight they asked me about Jesus' birthday. They had heard that language this season surrounding December 25th. And that is true right? Jesus' birthday is December 25th, the day we celebrate him being born in a manger in Bethlehem. But when Leighton kept asking probing, clarifying questions about Jesus' age it made me step back a bit and think about how we phrase things for kids. Christmas Day is the day we celebrate God entering Earth in the human form but is not His first day in existence. According to John, Jesus has always been with the Father from the beginning. So Jesus wasn't born for the first time 2000+ years ago but rather has always been. I shared this with Leighton and told her that we celebrate God coming in human form on Christmas Day as He was fulfilling the prophecies of the Savior coming of a virgin birth. And that it was exciting to all who knew it, the shepherds, wise men, etc as they knew they were close to redemption. I shared that then 30+ years later Jesus dies and then is raised to life and goes back to Heaven with the Father which is why we celebrate Easter. And for the future we have hope as we look forward to Jesus' coming again. And she concluded that that could happen first or if we die our bodies will be raised. Yes that too, sweet dear. So what is Christmas? Traditions? Someone's Birthday? I think it is so much more than that or even I can totally comprehend. It is when the pre-existing Creator God miraculously comes to earth as a human being to serve, relate, and be the sacrifice. My main goal of Christmas is not coming up with traditions but the kids understanding why we celebrate Christmas. Traditions and holiday festivities are fun but more importantly it is conversations, reading the Word and worshiping I want them to remember. Desiring God website says it better than I. See below to what I was trying convey about what I appreciated this Christmas. Click on them to see/ read enlarged version.

 We missed our family but did FaceTime in a ton. Merry Christmas from The Moores