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By Tamara Clare
Throughout the year we have many family traditions, but the
traditions we do at Christmas time are by far my favorite. For us it’s not the big and elaborate
traditions, but the little moments we share doing simple things together and
enjoying each other’s company that become the most powerful traditions. Here is how our Christmas day goes…
The alarm clock goes off around 7:00
am. Our four children are reminded on
Christmas Eve when we tuck them in that they are not allowed to come down
stairs for any reason until we call them down.
Charlie and I get freshened up while still in our jammies and head
downstairs. I get my coffee, Charlie
gets the camera and we hear the kids rustle on the stairs as they wait
patiently, giggling in anticipation of what is to come. I then take their picture as they sit on
the stairs while they begin to get frustrated that I just can’t get the right
picture. Finally, they head down the
stairs and around the corner to find their stockings full of goodies.
Once we all get situated Charlie
reads from the Little Golden Book, The Christmas Story (which was his as a
child) and then reads Luke 2:4-22 from the Bible. It is then that we take a moment of do “popcorn
prayer” and each of us prays to our Heavenly Father, giver of all things,
especially our Savior Jesus Christ. This
is one of my favorite traditions that help us to keep our hearts and focus on
the greatest gift given, Jesus Christ.
What comes next is the fun part.
Charlie will choose one of the kids to be the
one who hands out the gifts. Then from
youngest to oldest we open the gifts one at a time. I love the gratitude and happiness that is
shared when they receive their gifts.
When we are all done opening gifts,
Charlie helps the kids put anything together that needs batteries, screws or
the use of instruction manual and then we prepare breakfast. I set the table fancy using my best dishes
and water goblets. The kids love this
and feel so adult like and special. When
we sit down to eat we take time again to give thanks to our gracious God and
enjoy the feast prepared.
Around noon, my Grandparents and my Dad and Lyn (my
God given Mom) come over for Christmas Dinner.
We spend the next few hours preparing one of the most delicious meals of
the year. I wear the apron my Grandma
Mary Nell (who is now with Jesus) made. Wearing it makes me feel so close to
her.
So, four generations of women laugh
and love, hug and cry and make memories as we prepare and cook the Christmas Dinner. The men of course are watching football and
bonding the way men do as they wait for us to say “It’s Dinner Time!”
All ten of us then sit at our table
in the dining room that my daughter Samantha and I prepared and made as
beautiful as we could. Once the kids are
done, they excuse themselves from the table, but the adults remain for what
seems like hours. We sit and talk with
my grandparents listening to the stories of how they met, when they first fell
in love, the hard times, and the good times.
Sometimes we hear stories that we have heard before, but it never seems
to matter. We laugh, we learn and we
connect our family of families one generation at a time.
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