Traditions

Growing up, my family put our Christmas tree up a week or 2 before Christmas. It was more of a chore to get done on a Sunday afternoon then an event. In Hilary's family they put the tree up on Christmas Eve and it was an event. Everyone helped to trim the tree while they visited and toasted good cheer.

When Hilary and I become a family we merged a lot of traditions and forged some new ones. For the past 15 Christmases we put the tree up on Christmas Eve. But Liam is not willing to wait even 3 more days. He loves all things Christmas and wanted it up ASAP.

So it went up tonight after a long day of work and winter-break camp. While I wouldn't call it an "event", we certainly enjoyed ourselves. Each ornament was oohed and aahed over as it was unwrapped. We do not have a catalog perfect tree; in this instance we are not the Martha Stewarts of the Lesbian world!

Instead each ornament has a story or a memory that goes with it.

Some are ones from our childhood, having survived 30+ years of packing and repacking and shipping cross country.


Some we have gained since being together.


Some are just odd.

Yes, it's a gourd

And of course some are homemade by a great kid!
Liam is starting his own traditions, mainly his Nutcracker collection:Family traditions is one of the most important parts of Christmas for me. What is your favorite Christmas tradition?