Traditions...

It's Christmas Eve...and as our family comes together, it's all about traditions. And even though we're not celebrating at our traditional place, our holiday is still filled with tradition. Things like...

* Stopping at the LSS. Christmas wouldn't be the same without me making a trip to the LSS (wherever that might be). Being where we are, I got to make a trek to Scrapbooks, Etc. in Mesa. OMG! Talk about a HUGE store with HUGE selection! I checked with the gals to see if there was a sale coming up. Yes, there will be on Friday. Not a mega-sale but a sale nonetheless (15% if you pay with cash or gift cards). They did have some stuff on the 50% clearance tables...so I scored a few things like a set of Grungeboard alphas, some K.I. Memories Pop Culture Hangman (lace cardstock with alphas scattered throughout), a pack of 7Gypsies tags, and a cool make-it-yourself fall wreath. Samantha and I will return on Friday morning for their sale.

* Playing games with the family. We play lots of board and card games when we come together. This year, the game of choice happens to be Social Security. It's a board game that MIL/FIL stumbled upon via friends of theirs. The kids learned to play while staying with them during the summer. It's really a whole lotta fun! And now, we're all hooked.

* The big Christmas dinner. The only difference? Since we're in the rent house and didn't want to chance doing the whole shibang in a kitchen we aren't familiar with (i.e., not knowing what pots-and-pans we'd have or how well the oven works, etc), we ordered our dinner from the local Albertson's deli. And ya know what? It was a great meal! We just had to heat up the main meal (turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls). We also got a spiral cooked ham and made fresh green beans/bacon/onions, and some really good cranberry-and-orange relish from Trader Joe's (highly recommend this). For dessert, we had 4 pies to choose from...pumpkin, coconut cream, apple, and blueberry.

* The post-dinner walk. We took a nice walk around the neighborhood. Most of the houses were lighted...not only with Christmas lights but also luminarias along the front curbs. Very pretty (photos to come later).

* "Twas the Night Before Christmas". As soon as the current game of Social Security ends, it'll be time for our annual reading of "Twas the Night Before Christmas". We got the book when Samantha was born and have read it every year since.

Yes, traditions. It's what makes this time of year special.
Peace to you and yours on this Christmas Eve...as visions of sugar plums dance through your heads.