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We have several traditions for Christmas that we have maintained over the years, in spite of our many moves. The weekend of Thanksgiving, we try to get the tree up and the house decorated, the Christmas cds are placed next to and loaded into the changer, our favorite songs playing almost daily for the next 5-6 weeks. A pot is placed on the stove where I make "real" hot chocolate. A smaller pot is placed to simmer with "The scent of Christmas". I send out over 100 cards each year and each year I swear I will pare down the list next year, based on how many cards we receive. But I just can't seem to make myself do it. I know I don't hear from many in my extended family, but I still care about them and I figure a couple dollars to send them a card with a picture of my girls is a small price to pay to let them know they are in my thoughts.
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Each year on the Feast of St. Nicholas (December 6), we give the girls a small gift - each year it's been an angel ornament for the tree. Usually, they are personalized with their name and the year. The first few were pewter ornaments from Things Remembered. One year, Husband and I painted angels at a local pottery shop. The girls love hanging their angels on the tree and, one day, they will each have a box of angels to start their own Christmas tree.
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We always try to go to mass on Christmas Eve evening, so we have the entirety of Christmas Day to spend with family. When we lived near our parents, we'd have my mom and stepdad over in the afternoon Christmas Eve (before mass) and then we'd spend part of Christmas Day (late morning through lunch) with Husband's parents. Last year, we invited my mom to join us for mass and then spend the night with us. It was nice and comfortable to include her in our other Christmas traditions and she even spent most of the day with us Christmas Day. The girls loved having her with us when they opened their gifts from Santa and we just really enjoyed sharing the family time with her - we even commented that we should have invited her and my stepdad in years past.
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This year will be different, since we live farther away, but we're hoping my mom will come up and spend the days leading up to Christmas with us. Husband's parents are planning to come Christmas Day, so it will be not quite the same, but we're looking forward to sticking to most of our traditions.
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