Show Us Your Life @ Kelly's Korner: Christmas Traditions

oh, how i love traditions, especially around christmas time! head on over to see other blogger's christmas traditions at www.kellyskornerblog.com . here are some of the traditions (some of them which we just started last year since that was our first year as a married couple at christmas) that i would like to do every year.

1. having christmas "crackers" at christmas lunch. this is a tradition we just started last year but that i really want to keep up! it's a british tradition. everyone gets to crack open their cracker which has a crown in it for you to wear and a surprise of some sort.

2. decorating a gingerbread house together. it's so fun and then you have a lovely decoration for your kitchen!

3. making ornaments. my fav way to make homemade ornaments is to make them out of cinnamon and apple sauce. all you do is mix the 2 together, lay it out like cookie dough (use a lot of floor), then use christmas cookie cutters to make different shapes. i make a whole for the using a straw. then you lay the "cookies" out for a day, flip them over and lay them out for another day. after they are dry, you glue glitter on to the ornaments. wa la! i do this every year with my students but i always make some for myself, too.
4. sending out christmas cards with our picture on it.
5. driving around and looking at christmas lights. i always did this in my hometown with my family growing up and now adam and i like to drive through traditional, older neighborhoods near downtown austin and also, drive through the funky areas like 37th street to see their unique decor. this also used to include the zilker trail of lights but i heard last year was the last year for the trail.

6. going to the lighting of the texas capitol's christmas tree. we went for the 1st time last year and had the best time! it is a huge (and even better, free) event! before the tree is lit, you sing christmas carols for about an hour with a huge crowd. after it's lit, there are performers all throughout congress ave to watch. a must-see event!

7. shopping with my dad right before christmas to get my mom's christmas gifts. i've done this since i was little and it's a tradition i hope to keep up.
8. of course, we always go to the christmas eve service, then all of the extended family gets together to eat tamales and open gifts. growing up, we opened our immediate family gifts christmas morning.