Christmas Traditions

Back in 2010, shortly after moving out of my parents house, I posted the recipe for Christmas morning breakfast pizza and called it my family's only Christmas tradition. Now, two years later, as I'm back home with my family celebrating the holidays with my boyfriend for the first time, I find myself introducing him to traditions I hadn't previously realized we had.
For example, I wouldn't consider doing a Christmas puzzle a tradition, but if we do it every year without fail, I think that makes it the definition of a tradition.

All our puzzles are different and all are Christmas-themed, but they don't necessarily have all their pieces. Most of the puzzles come from garage sales or thrift stores.

I guess I should have realized how serious this puzzle tradition was when we had to take one with us to do in the hotel room over the Christmas break we spent in Canada....

The other important tradition that I hadn't realized we had involves the Christmas ornament.
Lots of families have ornament traditions, so it's not surprising that we have one as well. Our tree is covered in ornaments from our family vacations. Some families collect magnets, spoons, or shot glasses from their travels, we collect Christmas ornaments.

Some are more expected, like this Santa Claws from our trip to Cape Cod... (cheesy, I know.)

 

While we had to get more creative with others, like this keychain-turned-ornament from the World Of Coca-Cola from our vacation in Atlanta...

 

...or these earrings-turned-ornament from our trip to Las Vegas.

Each of these ornaments bring back memories of the family vacations of my childhood during a time of year when we should be reflecting and cherishing. It's a tradition that I want to continue as I get older.
Cameron and I got a start on our collection after our trip to the Len Foote Hike Inn. While we were there, we got a standard patch and once we got back, we turned it into an ornament by slipping it into a clear, glass ornament we found at a craft store.

It fit perfectly and will be a wonderful memory of our trip for years to come.

I hope your own holidays are full of family traditions and warm memories!

Merry (belated) Christmas and Happy New Year!