Tradition

I love a good tradition.

I love anything cheesy with my family and friends.

Which makes Christmas my ultimate holiday! And it absolutely did not disappoint yesterday. There were tons of presents and good food. There was some AMAZING Christmas Eve church that made me teary as we sang "O Holy Night" and I was reminded of God's love for me. But there were two things that stood about above and beyond the rest.

The first was our Annual Christmas Present Treasure Hunt. My dad has been doing this for us since I don't know when. He hides clues all over the house and sends all of us on our very own treasure hunt. It's silly and cheesy and it never gets old! I love watching everyone figure out their clues just as much as I love figuring out my own. It was extra special this year because Rock and Ly really got into it. They remembered the hunt from last year and were oh so ready to begin the hunts this year. It will forever be one of my happiest memories with my family. And I hope that it's a tradition that's carried on to my kids and grandkids one day.

The second moment was after we got home from church when mom, dad, Joe, Aunt Judy, Uncle Bob and I sat down to play cards. They taught me how to play Euchre which was hilarious because all of them played just a little bit different... So we played cards, munched on my favorite spiced pretzels, told stories, and laughed. I have so many happy memories of Christmas as a kid and we talked about those (singing carols as a family, the year I got an ironing board to play house with, how I thought fondue for  dessert was the fanciest thing I had ever seen, and that walking in the door and seeing a mountain of presents was the most glorious moment of my life), but I realized last night that being an adult with the "adults" is sometimes much more fun. We turned off the christmas music and turned on the golden oldies which meant we were all singing along and told stories of all the movies we saw when we were younger that we werent' supposed to see. (Except I didn't have any stories to tell cause I was THAT KID who was way too afraid and would have felt too much guilt seeing any movies I wasn't supposed to.) Dad, Aunt Judy and I kicked some tail at Euchre! And all in all it was a fabulous day with family.

So what did I learn this Christmas? There is nothing better than growing older with the people you love. That the next time my family wants to teach me how to play a new game I should definitely have a glass of wine by my side. And that I'm so thankful my family is filled with so much fun, love and cheesy traditions.

Signed: Merry Christmas from my house to yours!!! <3