Christmas waves a magic wand....

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ”

I LOVE this quote. Isn't it so true? Christmas time is TRULY  the most wonderful time of the year. I love it for many reasons. 

1. Jesus is the Reason for the season. 

"For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11

Brodie is 4. We've always told him it was Jesus birthday, but this year he is really grasping that Christmas is about celebrating His birthday. We've watched the story of Jesus birth 100 x on Youtube .( Link to Video ) He has it pretty much memorized by now and I LOVE that he loves to hear the story. His little heart is so pure. His faith is immeasurable. There is no doubt. This is our opportunity to teach our children the truth. Teach them what is right. Teach them about faith, belief, loving, doing unto others, giving, cherishing family/friends....Teach them the TRUE magic of Christmas. 

2. Traditions.

I LOVE traditions. Traditions are tiny promises that we keep each year. I am serious about traditions. I make them happen every year. Cheyanne is the same way. She loves them just like I do. I love sharing that love with her. I love adding to our list every year and some we always don't get to but we work hard to make sure our Christmas is as magical as possible.

Just a few of our traditions:

-Christmas music: it comes on after Thanksgiving and it stays on. We love it!

-Christmas movies: Cheyanne and I have watched EVERY hallmark/lifetime movie there is over and over. We love to curl up under a blanket preferably with a snack and watch our favorite movies. Brodie has his own favorites that we watch over and over.....especially at night before bed...The Grinch, Mickeys Christmas movie, Curious George Christmas, Santa Paws, Elf on the Shelf.....just to name a few.

-Christmas Lights: We love to go look at lights and we do this a few times each year. We all load up and ride to Rocky Ford or local neighborhoods. This is one of my favorites. 

-Christmas Tree: Must be REAL. Must smell like Christmas. MUST have colored lights. Must all go get it together. 

-Christmas Parades: The Rincon Parade, downtown parades...we love them all and go to as many as we find out about!

-Gingerbread houses: We make one every year. We usually do one at home just us and then we do one with my side of the family. 

-Santa Clause: We visit him at the mall as much as possible. We don't sit with him every time but we love to go wave at him.

-The Christmas Train: We ride it with Gamma every year and many times as possible. Brodie could ride it over and over and Paisley loved it this year!

-Elf on the Shelf: Yep. we fell into the "creepy" tradition. Yep. We LIE to Brodie. We tell him that the elf comes from the North Pole..sent by Santa...just for him. He creeps around our house at night and does funny things.  HAHA. But seriously, our elf...Charles is loved.  My mom bought him for Brodie 2 years ago. The first 2 years Brodie held him. This year we do it the "right" way. He's not touched and he moves each night. Thankfully, Cheyanne takes care of elf every night. Brodie wakes up every morning so excited to see what Charles has done. It's just a fun tradition that our family enjoys. I hope one day I can give Charles to Brodie as a father and he can either set him out on his mantle or he can let the tradition continue with his children. It's just all about the memories.

-Christmas Eve. Every Christmas eve the elf brings everyone matching pjs to wear. 

-& many more!

4. Family

All of my brothers and sisters come home!! We soak up as much time as we can with our families. We spend Christmas Eve and G & Pa Beasley's and Christmas day with my family.