Top 5 Green Family Christmas Traditions.

1. Picking the Christmas Tree
Every year, my family and I go to the Christmas tree farm together to select the perfect Green Family Christmas Tree! Well...my mom and dad pick it out...while my brother and I play hide and seek. It starts out pretty easy; hiding behind a wall or in a different section of trees, etc. But then it gets intense. One year, my brother buried himself in this pile of around twenty trees! I was SO frustrated because I had NO idea where he was and couldn't find him for the majority of the time we were there. He won that year, but damn was he sticky.



2. New Ornaments
Each of us has our own box of ornaments we've collected over the years. And every year, we get a new ornament that may or may not symbolize something important that has happened to us during that year. I say "may not" because I got a gag one this year. It's a National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation one that sings this song that begins the movie, which I LOVE. I've been singing it ALL BREAK. Other ornaments include: three "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments, none of which have the correct year I was born, a ballerina from when I used to dance, and a wooden snowman my friend got me this year in our ornament exchange!

3. Never Staying in Town

Family Reunion!

We never seem to stick around for the Holidays. My mother's side of our family lives in San Diego, dad's side lives near Sacramento, and we live almost in Central. For those of you know know nothing about the geography of California, they are on opposite ends. These people don't necessarily get along very well, so we're forced to alternate between them. Sometimes it can be a pain, but it's a constant, and a promise that we'll see them both at least once a year, and for that, I'm grateful.

Josh is always so happy. 

4. "Pre-Christmas"
A nice part about spending Christmas somewhere else is that usually on the day we leave our house, we celebrate a Pre-Christmas! Basically, we open our gifts to each other, and our gifts from the side of the family we won't be seeing that year. It's a nice way to spend time with each other before we're surrounded by other family. Last year I got my brother a bunch of gag gifts. I filled a can full of pennies and wrapped it three times with duct tape. That was pretty entertaining. This year he got his ears pierced and asked for earrings. I felt so weird walking out of Claire's with a pair for my brother. A dude. They were cute, too.

5. Midnight Mass & Family Portraits

Midnight mass has always been a big event for us. Everyone gets all dressed up in their holiday best and we spend some time reflecting the true meaning of this holiday. The birth of Christ! Woo! I'm a little uncertain about where I stand with my religious beliefs at present, but it's always a nice reminder of the community I was brought up in and how I was raised. When we get back from mass,  since everyone's looking snazzy, we take family photos to celebrate being with each other at the conclusion of another fabulous year!

All Seven Grandchildren :)