TRADITION

tra·di·tion

trəˈdiSH(ə)n/

1. the transmission of customs or beliefs from generation to generation, or the fact of being passed on in this way.

There are a few TRADITIONS at Casa de Peterson this time of year.

Some are passed down.

Some are with this generation.

All of them are ours.

Like many, we have a main floor Christmas tree.  But as you see in today's picture, we have 4 others in our house.  

• Main floor (as discussed..it's in the center above)
• The CHEERLEADER and my bedroom (top left)
• 3 trees in our basement
• Husker Tree (bottom left)
• Cowboys Tree (top right)
• Vikings Tree (bottom right)

On Christmas Eve night, everyone gets to choose what they will have for dinner.  This tradition started Christmas Eve of 2000.  At the time, the boys were 12, 9, and 5.  Meals back then ranged from Chicken nuggets, french fries, hot dogs, Popeyes Chicken to now where it is Steak and Crab Legs.

Also, on Christmas Eve, usually the CHEERLEADER spends most of the afternoon baking up a storm of cookies (peanut butter and molasses) as well dipped pretzels, dip for chips and she begins to prep for Christmas morning's meal.

After we have our Christmas Eve dinner, we sit down to a Christmas movie or two.  I usually tap out after 1, but this year, with my afternoon nap and a couple cups of late afternoon coffee, I made it through both movies!

We usually let the boys open up one gift Christmas Eve night (our choosing, not theirs).

Christmas morning, we make them stay up stairs as the CHEERLEADER and I make coffee, she starts the morning breakfast, and we get the stocking filled with cheer!

Something that started in my family as I was growing up, has become a staple:  The Leave Out gift!

• The Leave Out Gift is an unwrapped present that we usually place where each of the boys will be sitting

We actually tried, one year, just a few years ago, to not have a leave out gift.  This didn't go over real well.  Our thinking was that they were all older now and wasn't that just a kid thing?  

Turns out it wasn't just a "kid" thing, so we scrambled that year and had a leave out gift!

After the exchanging of gifts, it's breakfast time, then clean up.

From there, the boys usually scatter to partake in other Christmas's for the rest of the day.

But the most important TRADITION that we have revolves around what the season is all about...Jesus and His coming.  He is the greatest gift that one could receive.

If you have never "opened" His gift of life to you, I would encourage you to do so today.

"For this is how God loved the world:  He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  God sent His Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him."  

John 3:16-17 [NLT]

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13 [NLT]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!