Sunday, December 3, 2017

12 Days of Christmas: A Family Adventure



Our family is a little tired of the commercial, all-about-presents mentality of Christmas. We love focusing on the birth of our Savior. We also love celebrating the season. Honestly, when I think back to my childhood Christmases, the memories I hold most dear are the traditions and experiences I hadwith my family! Presents were fun, but experiences were more precious.

However, it's hard to focus on simple experiences when we're running around, spending way too much money on "perfect" presents.

So, although our kiddos are going to have gifts to open this year, we decided to spend more energy on experiences. We made a plan to have something to look forward to almost every day leading up to Christmas. We call it our 12 Days of Christmas Adventure.

Feel free to look at our plan and maybe even adopt a plan of your own.
(Please keep in mind that our plans are designed for our location, budget, and preferences...but I'd love to see what others come up with!)
Day 1- Decorate for Christmas
Day 2 - Visit Santa at the Mall
Day 3 -"Polar Express Train Ride" at a local town event/ Roast marshmallows & drink hot cocoa at home
Day 4 - Holiday Boat Parade at local beach town
Day 5 - "Apalachee Baptist Christmas Program" (concert event)
Day 6 - School Christmas program
Day 7 - City Christmas Parade/ Movie Night
Day 8 - Make Christmas ornaments
Day 9 - Snowman Pancakes for Dinner
Day 10 - Make Gingerbread Houses & Christmas Cookies
Day 11 - Look at Christmas Lights/ Christmas Carol & Cookie Gifts to neighbors
Day 12 - Christmas Baking/ Game Night with "Snowman Soup"
Christmas Eve. - Church service/ Birthday cake for Jesus/ Read Christmas story
Christmas Day - Gift Exchange/ Family Meal