Enter the Gift My Gathering contest. Details at the end of this holiday traditions post!
This holiday traditions post was sponsored by T.J.Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.
Happy Cyber Monday! Today is one of the biggest days to shop and while I will be updating my Cyber Monday page with all the latest deals / finds, I wanted to shift today’s post to focus on what the holidays really mean: reconnecting. It’s a time of year to gather with your family and friends, to come together and share experiences, and to reflect and look forward. For me, my attention is on my family. I grew up in a small family as an only child with only a few cousins but we always made it a tradition to get together every year and share several large family-style meals together where we would laugh and talk for hours. After getting married and creating a family of our own, I love that we’ve added new traditions to call our own that my kids can look forward to every year.
Family Holiday Traditions – Ornament A Year Collection
Of course, we always kick things off with the Christmas tree and this year I convinced Adrian to put it up just a few days before Thanksgiving (he’s a big stickler on celebrating one holiday at a time 😆) and the kids could not have been more excited! One of my favorite traditions that we started the year Dylan was born was having a picking out a special ornament that would let us remember something about that year. We blast the Christmas music and it’s always so much fun breaking out our Christmas decorations! And as the sentimental mom, it always brings back some nostalgia seeing the ornaments from each year. I just love that they’ll have a little collection built up over the years!
Family Holiday Traditions – Holiday Pancakes
It can be easy to overload on sweets this time of year so instead of making cookies, we make pancakes! This recipe is the kids’ favorite and I love getting them involved in the kitchen whenever they can. I break out the holiday cookie cutters and the kids get so excited creating some fun shapes out of their pancakes!
Family Holiday Traditions – Family Pajamas
There’s lots of cuddling this time of year and time spent in our pajamas so I let the kids pick out a new one every season! One of these years I’m gonna try to convince them to do a family matching pajama set! 😂
Family Holiday Traditions – Las Posadas
A tradition we inherited from Adrian’s side of the family is Las Posadas and it’s one of my absolute favorites! Posadas are a huge part of Mexican tradition and with Adrian’s large family, everyone gets together to make costumes weeks beforehand to then dress up the night before Christmas to sing carols. The costumes have gotten more elaborate year after year (Adrian was a shepherd and Dylan was a fairy a few years ago) and it’s such a great time to spend together with family!
A few other holiday traditions we celebrate:
- Carriage Ride Christmas Lights – we take a horse-drawn carriage ride through Highland Park to view their Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music and sipping on hot chocolate. I look forward to this one every year!
- Advent Calendar – I picked up this Advent calendar a few years ago and the kids love waking up every morning to move the marker as they count down to Christmas!
- North Pole Communicator – The kids love having a “direct line to Santa” and this phone is so much fun for them to get daily reminders leading up to the big day.
- Family Ugly Sweaters – This is one I’m starting this year as I just ordered a set for the family. I can’t wait! 😆
- Gingerbread Houses – We tried this with Dylan for the first time last year and I’m excited to do this again this year now that Mei can start building too!
Anyone else here love HomeGoods when it comes to home decor? Seriously I’m probably there every week looking for new treasures to add to our house this time of year! Between T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods, I can find everything I need for our family gatherings from holiday décor to entertaining essentials and gifts for everyone on my list. T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods know that family is the greatest gift this time of year and together they’re hosting a Gift My Gathering contest to inspire people to connect and celebrate what truly matters most – each other. This holiday season, they are making it possible for five families from across the U.S. to come together and celebrate at a holiday gathering. Visit giftmygathering.com to share how they can help you gather with the people that matter most this holiday season. Five families from across the U.S. will be selected. T.J.Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods make it possible for them to be together and celebrate with a custom holiday gathering!
No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited. Gift My Gathering is sponsored by The TJX Companies, Inc. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S., D.C. and Puerto Rico, 18 & older. Begins 8:00 a.m. ET on 11/13/17 & ends 11:59 p.m. ET on 11/28/17. For official rules, visit giftmygathering.com.
Let me know what traditions you celebrate with your family during the holiday season?
I love holiday traditions!! Looking forward to doing a lot of these this year as well!
You have the cutest family!
xo, Steph
http://www.urbanblonde.com
Aw you’re so sweet, thanks so much Steph!!
I love all of your traditions! The costume tradition sounds so fun and special!!
XOXO
Cathy
Thanks so much, It is definitely an enjoyable tradition for sure!! My kids love it!!
These pics are too cute! I love holiday traditions like these 🙂
http://stopdropandvogue.com
Thanks so much Taylor!
holiday traditions are the best! you have a beautiful family!
xo!
Shelby
http://www.glitterandgingham.com
You’re so sweet Shelby, thank you so much!
Awww, these are great holiday traditions. We are starting my son on a few traditions this year and it’s just so fun to watch and see his eyes light up. It’s like story telling but for real you know?!
http://www.littlemisscasual.com
Yes, seeing the kids light up is the best part!! <3 Love it
My family in Mexico do Posadas all the time! So fun!
xo, Lily
Beauty With Lily
Oh that’s so awesome!!
ahh I love this! love learning about Holiday traditions! They are so important!
Britt+Whit
Thanks so much !
I love this! Thanks for sharing this! I can’t wait to start doing family traditions with my little family!
XO, Jessi
https://www.mywhitet.com/online-shopping-guide-best-black-friday-cyber-monday-deals/
Thanks so much Jessi!!
I love all these wonderful traditions you’ve implemented for your family. Growing up we had a few of our own and those moments always remain with me!
Sxx
daringcoco.com
Traditions are the best! Thanks so much for reading!!
All of these are wonderful traditions! I love the Christmas pjs!
Thank you Nataly!
Aw I want to be a part of your family lol, all of the traditions sound so much fun!
Hahah, We do have a lot of fun! Thanks Maggie!
Your family has the cutest traditions! I love that you get a new ornament for the tree each year. My mom still tries to do the same for me and I even did the same for my fiancé last year. It’s just so special that way!
Thanks so much Stephanie!! That is such a special tradition! love that.
These traditions are so sweet! I bet they are as special to you as they are to your kids huh?
Xx
Cristina
http://www.timelessoptimist.com
Yes, they are very special! My kids love it, and it makes me love it even more
Cute photos! Lovely traditions!
http://chicglamstyle.com
Thank you Rachel!
These look like such fun traditions, especially the pancake making tradition 🙂
xo Kimmie
Thank you so much Kimmie!!
Aw, this post is so sweet- I love making new holiday traditions. I don’t have kids but I think the holidays would be so much more fun and special if I did! Love seeing everyone’s traditions <3
Aw thanks so much Amanda!! I appreciate you reading!
Awww I absolutely adore your family traditions! Super festive and fun for the kids:)
xoxo, Hannah
Thank you Hannah!
I wanted to put my Christmas tree up before thanksgiving, but none of the farms here opened until thanksgiving…UGH! I love your family traditions, especially the holiday treats!
I love hearing about others holiday traditions. Yours sound so fun!
What a beautiful family. Indeed, setting up a Christmas tree is an activity for the whole family!
Jessica | notjessfashion.com
Aww these traditions are too sweet!! Might need to steal a few. ;0
I love that you guys get new everything every year, I feel like it makes Christmas more fun and exciting. We do the same and plan to make that a tradition with my future family 🙂
xx
Iliana | http://www.sophisticatedfashionista.com
Thank you very much, It is an enjoyable tradition for sure!! My Childs definitely like it.