New Christmas Traditions

I am pretty big on traditions. Especially Christmas ones! There is something comforting and nostalgic in doing the same things year after year. Some family traditions have lasted the test of time and others have changed as we have lost family members and added new ones. Mason and I have a few traditions that we stick to... his favorite being watching Home Alone 384 times during the month of December. Seriously... we quote this movie all year long! "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal"! 

Now that we are parents, I feel even more urgency to create lasting family memories. And yes, I'm WELL aware that Hadley will not remember a single thing about this Christmas, but you know who will!? ME! Me and my trusty camera that will be there to document every adorable second! :) 

So in an effort to start our very own holiday traditions this year, we have been busy engaging in lots of festive activities to help get us in the Christmas spirit!

This year our traditions include: 

MISTLETOE & MAGIC
Hadley & I drove to Tyler before Thanksgiving to go to Mistletoe & Magic for some early Christmas shopping! This hasn't always been a tradition of mine, but my mom, aunts, and grandmother had a tradition of going every year - so hopefully this will be one that Hadley & I will add to our list, as well. 

SANTA'S VILLAGE

This adorable little "town" is set up next to the Richardson Public Library near my old stomping grounds. It is a "community" of gingerbread style homes with fun kid activities set up inside each house, such as mailing a letter to Santa, making your own ornament, a cookie shop, and of course meeting Jolly Ol' Saint Nick. I volunteered at Santa's Village when I was on drill team in High School and wanted to bring Hadley even though there wasn't too much for her to do this year. It was still fun to go and walk around!

​HIGHLAND PARK VILLAGE

The lights in HPV are absolutely breath taking! We like to go to dinner at Mi Cocina at least once in December to take in the magical scenery and a margarita or two! :) 

LUNCH AT NEIMANS

The ultimate "ladies who lunch" destination. I LOVE going to lunch at Neimans! The consommé soup starter and the popovers with strawberry butter! To die. This place, just screams special occasion to me! This past weekend we had a family lunch there. Another tradition worth keeping! 

And these are all just pre-Christmas activities. We will still make the drive to Tyler to celebrate Christmas Eve and Morning as usual, followed by our annual road trip to Houston to celebrate with the Guinn side of the family!

Before Mason and I were married, however, we had lots of special traditions of our own. As a child, my family always celebrated Christmas at my Grandmother's house. She was creative, crafty, and loved the holidays and had a way of making them magical. From her magnificent snow village to her Christmas tree made up only of angel ornaments that she collected over her whole life - I so vividly remember all of the tiny details that she put into making the season so memorable. When she died in 2005, it was definitely a major loss to our family and forced us to change the way we did a lot of things. 

One tradition, however, has lasted. My Grandmother's handmade stockings.

These stockings were nothing fancy. Just felt pieces sewn together with sequins and festive holiday cutouts, hand stitched and glued onto the front. Every member of our entire family had their own and every Christmas Eve she spent nearly the whole night stuffing them. I can not even imagine how much time it would take to shop for and stuff nearly 15 stockings, but she did it every year without fail. 

We absolutely love these stockings and I'm sure my family would all agree that they are among our most cherished possession. Sadly, Mason and Hadley do not have their own. 

For my birthday, Mason gave me a sewing machine which I had every intent on using to make stockings for this Christmas. Time was unfortunately a luxury that I did not quite have enough of during Hadley's first 7 months. So I decided to take a few short cuts with a pre-made stocking for this year. (I still plan to make and sew stockings for next year). *Also, not pictured: Mason's stocking which I am still working on.

Isn't Hadley's just the cutest!? The best part of her stocking (other than it being PINK) are the angels. I had a bag of scrap felt pieces that my Grandmother had made and decorated yet never used for the stockings. When looking through the bag, I found these two angels. 

Absolutely perfect for Hadley's stocking! Sometimes you can't help but smile at God's timing. How strange that my Grandmother made these two angels and never used them. And that I happen to have a bag of all of her old scrap pieces, that I came across the day that I decided to make Hadley her own stocking. And that angels were my Grandmother's most favorite thing.

It may not be much, but I feel like this is such a wonderful tribute to her. Hadley may have never gotten to meet my sweet Grandmother who influenced me in so many ways, but I hope that over the years I will be able to warm her heart with the magic of Christmas in the same way that my family has always done for me. 

We are so excited that Christmas week has finally arrived! I know that this one will be our very merriest one yet...