My Christmas Traditions - Blogmas Day 17

 Hello Friends,

I hope you are doing well. Here we are at day 17! It doesn't feel like it is actually this close to Christmas yet. I am happy that I have most of my gifts, there are maybe a few more to buy, then I am done. As much as it is crazy and a bit stressful at times, I love this busy time of the year. Today I am sharing the Christmas traditions I love and look forward to all year round. These are the activities and moments that are so special to me and my family. I like that I also have some new traditions now with Liam that I enjoy and look forward to as well that we can go and do as a date night to enjoy time together during this time.

One of a Kind Show - Every year there is a craft show in Toronto called the One of a kind show from the end of November to the beginning of December. Last year it was cancelled due to Covid-19, this year they had it. We still didn't feel it was the right time to go this year. I hope that next year my mom, sister, and I can resume our tradition of walking around and browsing different booths and buying Christmas gifts.

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Distillery District Winter Village - We haven't gone in awhile, but going to the Distillery District in Toronto while their Winter village is running is so special. I used to go with my family every year and then it got so busy on weekends. It was also hard going at night after work. It would be nice to take a day off and go once things settle down with the pandemic and it is outdoors, so helps with social distancing.

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Decorating my parent's tree - Every year we would decorate the tree together and make it a celebration to start the Christmas season. My dad would go to the basement and bring up the Christmas tree and put the lights on. Then we would have dinner and then start decorating. Now that we are all in separate homes, my sister and I still like to go over to decorate our parent's tree. We have dinner together, then we listen to Christmas music and have treats while we decorate the tree. I look forward to this tradition in November to start off the holiday season. Look at their pretty tree below!

Moo sitting under the tree while we were decorating. 

Decorating my Christmas tree - I decorate my tree usually the week after I go to my parent's. This year was a bit different it was our first year with Millie here for Christmas so I put only the ornaments that weren't breakable. I have a lot of knitted ornaments now that worked well for this purpose. 

Here she is climbing up the tree a couple of days after we put it up. She hasn't been climbing as much as at first. She still sits under it and bats at ornaments. We keep an eye on her and sometimes she climbs down if we call out to her. She was climbing it a lot, so the lights get tangled and pulled down. But I try to adjust it and fix the tree so we can keep it in good shape.

Nights of Lights - We have a new tradition started last year which is Liam and I going to Nights of Lights in Vaughan. It is a light show set up outdoors and they have different fun displays to look at. Last year it was a drive thru and this year was a walk thru. It is so pretty looking at all the lights and walking through while they play music. This year there was a small market and food trucks. We got dinner there and I bought a couple of things from the market booths.

Christmas Eve  - Watching It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. This started when I lived with my parents. We would go to church, then come home and open one gift of pajamas each. Then we would watch It's a Wonderful Life together until late usually until around 12. We would catch the end of the movie. This year I have a plan to start it in the afternoon once I am done work and get cozy on the couch and celebrate that I am done work for the holidays and that it is Christmas the next day. I am hoping to have all of my wrapping and tasks done by then to just relax. Then we can have dinner and open our pajamas later on and sit by the tree.

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Christmas day gift giving - Each year my family and I exchange gifts and we go around in a circle and each open the gift one by one. This used to last hours in the past when my sister and I lived at home and even now. I think we will be scaling back a lot more compared to what we usually did. It was so much fun to open so many gifts and also to see my family's reactions to the gift I gave them. It is something I look forward to most for Christmas.

I hope you enjoyed reading through my Christmas traditions and my memories. What is your favourite Christmas tradition? I hope to see you again tomorrow for blogmas day 18!

Have a great day!