Christmas Adam

December 23rd is Christmas Adam in our family, which means we head over for our traditional evening at Grandma and Papa's house. But before we made our way over there, we wanted to decorate Luke's grave for Christmas, and spend a few minutes there before the holidays got too busy. Also, I had driven past Luke's Place a week or so earlier and found that his entire headstone was covered in a snow drift! We wanted to make sure it was uncovered for Christmas.

It. Was. So. Cold!! Danny was smart, and shoveled us a path to Luke's grave and also shoveled some space around it so we could set up the awesome trees that Grandma Candy found for him and so we had a place to stand for a quick picture or two. He's the best! Grandma Candy met us there so she could bring Luke's trees, and so she could set up Rachel's tree for Christmas. After last year with no headstone, I was very pleased with how Luke's Place looked for Christmas! And my Mom always does a good job with Rachel's place. :)

 We could only stand to be in the cold for a few minutes, and then we made our way to Grandma and Papa's. When we got there, Grandma got the kids started on some fun crafts and projects, including making big stars/snowflakes from white paper bags, making luminaries, and doing puzzles. 

After the projects were all compete, dinner was ready. This year we enjoyed spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, and it was delicious. Once the kids had eaten, they worked on making their traditional Christmas Trees from sugar cones, frosting, and candy. Then it was time to take the luminaries outside and light them up! The kids were most excited about that part. :)

At this point, we had stalled the children as long as we could. They knew they had a present from Grandma and Papa, and they wanted to open it! Especially because they knew it was pajamas...and they were just dying to find out what kind!

The girls were in Minnie Mouse this year, while my handsome son rode Han Solo in his Star Wars jammies. :) (See what I did there?) They all looked so cute and grown up! Next was something a little different. Grandma had been working with Johnny and Lucy at school on learning "The Twelve Days of Christmas", so she brought out her pictures and we all sang the song together! Johnny got to be the partridge in the pear tree, since that was his part in school. He did awesome! I swear that is the longest Christmas song ever, but it was fun to watch the kids be so proud of their part each time it came around.

The next part of our Christmas Adam tradition is the movie. This year, we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas", and it was short and sweet. :) I'm pretty sure Danny fell asleep...

It's also tradition for the kids to get their picture taken in their new jammies on Grandma's little rocking chair. You know, my kids used to fit in that chair a lot better! My, how they've grown. Claire looks a little awkward! :)

Christmas Adam 2015 was another success! When I was growing up, we had very few (if any) real holiday traditions that I can remember.  And honestly, it took me a few years of being married into Danny's family to embrace the idea of things being something of the same every year. Now? I love it! I look forward to the sameness, but also the unique memories, every year. Christmas Adam is definitely one of my most favorite holiday traditions, and one I plan on continuing when our children marry and have their own families.