Holidays…Dreher Style

My husband and I agree that this past holiday season was one of the most relaxed and enjoyable holidays we’ve had in quite a while.  We did some things differently this year that I think helped our family come together more and focus on the spirit of the season.

We kicked off the Christmas season with a trip to Branson the weekend after Thanksgiving.  We enjoyed all of the lights and the tree display at Silver Dollar City and had a wonderful meal as we watched the Christmas show at Dixie Stampede.

I picked up $1 Christmas crafts at Michaels during October and November so the kids had fun making their own Christmas ornaments and decorations.

We celebrated the Advent season by reading Scripture about God’s plan for salvation; from the beginning of creation until Jesus was born.  Each day during Advent, one of the big kids placed an ornament on the branch of Jesse.

The kids also had fun opening their Lego Advent Calendar everyday.  By Christmas, they had quite the Lego display built.

This was the first year we celebrated Hanukkah and we’ll continue this tradition.  Hanukkah is a time for remembering the miracles God has given us.  It was during the Festival of Lights that Jesus proclaimed himself to be both the “light of the world” and the Messiah.  The true miracle is that Jesus brought the light of salvation into our dark world.  Oh, what a meaningful celebration Hanukkah was for me.

For the kids, it was mostly about getting gifts for eight nights in a row…though they did enjoy lighting the candles and participating in the blessings.

I really enjoyed having my mom and step-dad, Gil, with us to celebrate my birthday and Christmas together.  This year, I made Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so that I could have all day on Christmas to play with the family.  That’s another tradition I’ll be keeping!

And of course Christmas morning was spent opening presents, laughing and playing.  We started a tradition several years ago where the kids each get three presents: something they really want, something educational and something they need.  We put the “something they really want” in their Santa Sack (that’s what Jacob is opening in the picture above).  They’re always excited to find out what they got!