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Santa's Footprints

1.  Going to church on Christmas Eve. With the exception of one magical Mexican vacation Christmas, I've spent every Christmas Eve at my parent's house.  My mom hosts my dad's entire extended family and it's something I look forward to all year.  Unfortunately, moving to Washington state meant giving up this tradition forever because I insist that my kids wake up on Christmas morning in their own beds.  Unfortunately we can't be in two states at the same time, so this year we're joining some friends at Church instead.  It won't be quite the same, but we also won't be sitting at home missing the family.

2. Santa's footprints.  Every year Santa leaves magic North Pole snow prints on the floor from the fireplace to the cookie dish to the tree.  (Flour + one of Dad's big shoes = Santa prints)

3.  Matching Christmas jammies.  I still need to get these for this year, but buying matching jammies for the kids means they look adorable in all your Christmas photos and you don't have to get them dressed at all on Christmas day.

4.  Opening the stockings first.  We each have beautiful hand-knit stockings that my grandmother made.  The best part about them is that they are HUGE and seem to get bigger every Christmas.  We open these first before hitting the bigger presents.

5.  His and hers Santa wrap.  Every year Santa wraps Alex's presents in red paper and Genoa's presents in pink paper.  This makes it really easy for my preschooler to help distribute the presents on Christmas morning, even though he's not really reading yet.

6.  A lazy Christmas day.  We don't do anything, go anywhere or even get dressed on Christmas day.  I enjoy relaxing and letting the kids play with the toys while I sit back and drink coffee. 

7.  Prime rib dinner.  Every Christmas, I make the same dinner: enough prime rib for an army, mashed Yukon gold potatoes with mushroom gravy and a side of vegetables.  Dave looks forward to it all year long.