this year is a christmas of firsts.
we also went up to the rim, got a permit, and cut down our very first christmas tree which we decorated last night.
it was such a lovely drive and poppy was the best little doggy in the world the entire trip.
it's also the first year we're also not doing presents (although i already cheated and bought just a couple for marcus and and poppy). we decided instead we would use the money to get more projects done in our house--which i'm really excited about :)
we're sending out our first christmas cards using cardstore that are currently 70% off and easy to create. I'll try and remember to post one when i get to see them printed.
how are your holidays going? anything exciting going on?
if you're from another country, i'd love to hear your traditions! we're always looking for new ones to incorporate!
xo, ashley
p.s. thank you all for the great advice and well wishes in the 'what makes you itch' post. i appreciated not feeling like we were alone in this feeling and loved hearing your ideas.
12 comments
Those firsts are so exciting. It's our first married Christmas this year with our first tree and first Christmas card. My husband is South African and I'm Belgian and even though we grew up on opposite ends of the world our Christmas traditions seem to be pretty similar. A few differences I did notice: present giving isn't a huge deal here in Belgium, we tend to do small gifts. We each had a budget for gifts and stuck to that budget. Christmas cards with family pictures is also not a tradition where we're from. Same goes for exchanging ornaments. I actually feel like we gained more Christmas traditions from reading American blogs than we did from our backgrounds. ;) I guess I'm not much of a help!
this year us kids aren't giving eachother gifts, except my younger siblings all cheated and bought presents anyways, but not for me. I'm telling everyone (except my parents) to put that money towards giving to people who aren't able to even buy the bare necessities. and I'm saving to go on a missions trip soon so that's our Christmas first this year. xx
In Spain presents are not usually geiven or opened the 24th or 25th December, although Santa is getting more popular these days. We usually wait until January. We have a parade in our towns where you can see people impersonating the Three Wise Men and lots of kids dressed up throwing candies. As the Bible says, the Three Wise Men gave the presents to baby Jesus on the night of the 5th, so most kids open their presents the 6th in the morning. Even if the family is not catholic or christian, this tradition still goes on. I just love the parade but I think it's a waste of candies in such a hard economic period.
There are many new traditions that we are inheriting from the Anglosaxon countries. For instance the tree. But it's good because as we don't believe, at home we can decorate the tree instead of the nativity scene (I know people who still puts it even if they don't believe, but I don't think it's correct). In Spain we have this tradition that we got from Italy in the 15th century where you not only build the nativity but the whole town of "Belén" (in Spanish). Some of them are ginormous and even have real water, automatic figures, sound and lights!!
i love that you guys went and chopped one down together!
we arent doing gifts this year, either. not because of projects, but because i really dont want to buy things, and i really want the boys to know that chirstmas isnt just an excuse to get things. ( im pretty sure my husband still plans on buying the boys a little something). If anything, maybe i will hand make something, and i really plan to focus on serving others more, this year.
-malia
oh, and talking about firsts..this year, i am planning on doing christmas tamales. we arent much of a ham family. i'd like to make some meat ones, and vegetarian ones ( for me). this will be my first year making them myself! if all goes well, i would like this to be our family tradition.
-m
Jace and I have started doing 1 "big gift" to each other...and then little fun things for our stockings. We have done christmas cards for the last 2 years, and unfortunately we dont have a real tree :( but my fake one gets to stay up way longer and make me happy with its sparkle. :)
New traditions include our 12 dates of Christmas. I have different things written down for 12 days leading up to Christmas. Some include something we've never done together (ice skating), and some include sharing christmas memories from growing up, and others are service dates (helping someone in need), We did it last year for the first time and are doing it again this year!
That's so cool you got to cut down your own tree. I've never done that before. Sounds like quite the adventure.
http://shannonhearts.blogspot.com/
That's awesome! I've never cut down a tree. Poppy... he's so adorable.
And sometimes taking it easy with gifts is the best thing!
In a few hours, I'll have a post up on traditions if you want to check it out! :D
trudyisawesome.blogspot.ca
Looking forward to seeing the decorated tree :D
Oh man! That sounds awesome. You should share! haha
Interesting. We have 'three kings day' in Belgium on the 6th as well, but we don't do gifts. We do gifts on the 6th of December for Sinterklaas. Christmas gifts is also becoming more popular now.
yes, it's the Epiphany day :)
Oh! I love the Rim! It's so pretty and quiet there.
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