Holiday Traditions: Wynne Elder

Over the next couple of weeks I’ll have a couple of friends share some of their family holiday traditions with you. I hope you enjoy and I would love to hear some of your traditions as well!

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Reminiscing about the traditions we had as a family during the holidays makes me sappy and giddy. Going to my grandparents after church Christmas Eve to have mexican food for dinner, and open matching Christmas jammies with my sisters then ending the night at home with my family watching White Christmas…to waking up on Christmas morning to take pictures in our matching jammies, eat breakfast while we open our stockings….

I’ve been thinking so much about the traditions we will do as a family. Stephen and I in our married life have started a few traditions. We always get a real tree every year. We pick a chilly night, turn on the Christmas tunes, drive thru Starbucks for hot choclate and head to the christmas tree place to pick out a tree! We come home and he strings the lights, and I put on the ornaments, usually while watching a Christmas movie (The Holiday in recent years). We pick a seperate night to drive around and look at Christmas lights and drop off homemade goodies to friends, and then either before or after we head home for Christmas, we exchange our gifts in our stockings. Only stocking gifts, and it’s so sweet and fun.

Last year the kiddos were too young to really start any “new” traditions, but they did come with us to pick out our tree. Now my heart is set on starting new traditions for our family. Praying about how we can keep Jesus as the reason for this season. How to celebrate His birth, and tell our children why we celebrate this time of year. I’ve found a few awesome resources that we are going to use this year!

The Christmas Angel, Naptime Diaries Advent Calendar, and Happy Birthday Jesus book.

I think as they get older, focusing on how we can serve and love others during the holiday season will be some of my most special memories! and of coarse, as we travel back to our hometowns, we still celebrate Christmas the way we’ve always known it.

Wynne is a Texas girl married to her best friend, seeking to live life in intentional community. She’s an adoptive mom, a storyteller and a dreamer. She loves Jesus and is passionate about people, Africa and her role as a Noonday Collection ambassador. She loves to travel the world, take photos and tell stories and share them on her blog, gloriously ruined. God has gloriously ruined her life and now she’s just living this wild adventure He’s writing. You can find her onfacebook, purchase with purpose on her noonday collection site, and see glimpses of her daily life oninstagram.