When I first came to Jeremy’s there were so many things I had to become accustomed to. Life here was about as different as night and day from the life I had been leading. I had become accustomed to not even decorating for Christmas, and Christmas decorating had been a huge part of my life up until I was married. The x was not about keeping up with my traditions for me and we somehow just mainly didn’t do Christmas except with his family after we were married. Nevertheless, Christmas stayed my favorite holiday. There is nothing better than watching kids open gifts, driving around seeing Christmas lights, and being with people you love.
Well since I have been here with Jeremy, we have adopted some of my past traditions. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning. Putting up Christmas either on or before Thanksgiving (Involving the kids in the process of decorating), doing stockings (a must in my mind). We also have kept up some of his traditions. Till the kids got to have too many activities and we could not go; we spent the holidays with his mom in NY. When we are home, we open gifts in the mornings. Since Covid, a tradition we have been having is having the boy’s mom over for opening gifts and breakfast.
The first thing I noticed that first Christmas doing a tree together was how some of the ornaments that have been in my Christmas stash since I was born were some that he had as well. We also had ornaments that were on the childhood trees that we felt especially close to. We both share stories each year about certain things, some of which I’m sure we have shared every year but that’s Ok because at least for me I love hearing the stories from the past.
Christmas has a way of combining different traditions, or lack thereof, and still making Christmas something totally special. One of my favorite traditions with my ex was we always went to Christmas eve services at our church. This was a special time that afterward, then in the last few years we were together we would spend Christmas eve with two other couples that we had gotten very close with. IT would be a fun time with many laughs more often than not a snowy ride home.
The décor around the house he casa de Lug reminds me of so many Christmases before. We are a combined family with separate memories and now five years later together memories. We have been doing an artificial tree since covid started running rapidly because each year I want to decorate earlier and earlier to give us something to help cheer us up. So, we have a 7-foot tree that I swear is only 6 feet. We compromise on the lights. I would have colorful blinking lights 24/7 but Jeremy prefers them not to blink so I prefer white lights if they aren’t going to blink. So, we mix it up. Our décor is a mish-mash of his, mine, and ours. Every year I seem to be adding another tree décor item as well as a nutcracker. Mostly via Amazon and Hobby Lobby. Oddly enough the Christmas tree and nutcracker have become my favorite collectibles for Christmas.
I had Christmas up extremely early this year due to the boys having a very busy schedule and not having them for the holidays. Which for me is so sad. I love having the boys here at home with us for the holidays but that can’t always be. Shared kids, as hard as it may be for them to go between houses, it is harder I think for the parents. Their mom has never said this to me but, as a stand-in, mom I miss them this bad I can only imagine how it is for her. So, this year we didn’t get them at all the weekend of Thanksgiving. They went out of town to their mom’s side of the family. So, we lost our weekend days with them and the holiday. For Christmas, we will have them during our normal weekend hours and then after we open gifts, they will be off with their mom for the holiday.
I wanted to share with you a bit about how the Holiday décor comes about each year. I hope you have enjoyed hearing about it. Leave in the comments something that you collect each year for Christmas.
Xo Evie
Finding Evie 