Traditions...

...are such an important part of family and holidays. I love that each year our little family of 6 goes to Northpark to see the decorations, drives around and looks at Christmas lights, and makes gingerbread men with our Mimi...just to name a few. I love that we get an angel from the angel tree to help our kids understand how blessed we truly are, and that others may not be so fortunate. I love our neighborhood traditions as well...cocktail parties, ornament exchanges. But I think my favorite neighborhood tradition revolves around...breakfast. Every grade level at our elementary school, boys and girls, has a holiday breakfast each year. Some exchange ornaments, some books. Some just hang out and have fun. What I love about this tradition was summed up beautifully by my good friend Lezlie this morning at Annie's 4th annual Candy Cane breakfast. She said the moms love this breakfast as much as the girls, and we started this tradition because we could see the future. We could see girls growing up, getting involved in different activities and organizations. We could see their lives and ours getting busier and crazier until ultimately those sweet girls in their pjs, squealing and giggling would go...off to college or wherever God has planned for them..to start their own lives. So before any of that happens, we started this tradition...of coming together at Christmas time to celebrate Christ's birth with good friends, watching our girls as they grow into lovely young women...so that years from now, way into the future, it will be part of our established routine. We will all come home for the holidays, wake up one morning just before Christmas, and come together again....celebrating, our tradition.

Me and my precious girl...









Sweet friends having so much fun!