Tis' the season

Though we've been married for 9 years this month, we don't have much we do in the way of Christmas traditions. Mostly because travel looks different every year with extended family, two kids have been born over the holidays, and we have moved often. This year is no exception!

However, some Pilgreen favorites are baking goodies like Reindeer cookies and Pecan Salty Chocolate Bark.



Decorating the tree together is a favorite as we remember where we got the ornaments or who gave them to us. This year, since we are preparing for our move to San Francisco, we let the boys decorate a small tree in Elijah's room that is covered with homemade ornaments and children's keepsake ornaments. In the living room, we decorated another small tree that if we were to put our presents around it, you wouldn't see the tree! Though the tree is quaint, I look forward to getting a tree next year, so we can pull out all the ornaments and relive lots more memories.



We'd much rather give experiences to our boys than tangible gifts, so we took them, along with another family, to the Dixie Stampede Christmas in Branson. We ate throughout the program and saw toys come to life and the live nativity. Ben and I even got to participate in one of the games down on the center field!



In this year's Kindergarten Christmas program, Elijah was given a speaking part. He was the first one to welcome everyone to the night of singing and dancing. We are so proud of him. He takes it seriously and falls in line with him wanting to be a pastor one day!



Traditions definitely allow us to relive memories and somehow captures our past in a magical way, yet we discover that new things and new places keep us fresh and in a constant state of wide-eyed wonder! Why? Because it's all brand-new! So, tis' the season to be jolly!