Holiday traditions, it wouldn't be the same without them.

We all have family traditions that MAKE the holiday season for us.  Whether it be baking cookies with family and friends, decorating the Christmas tree with grandparents { one of ours }, visiting the same Santa each year for pictures { ours, again }, using the same Advent calendar each year...  whatever it may be it's a tradition for you and your family and your holidays aren't the same without them.

That brings me to another holiday tradition that I've tried my darnedest to keep going in my family over the years...

The tradition started for me when I was a child, each Christmas my Grandma Kelly, may she rest in peace, would give ornaments to all of the grandchildren for their gifts.  And each year she went to Stanek's on the South Hill in Spokane to pick out those ornaments.  Eventually my brother and I got to go with her since Mom and/or Dad needed to drive her there...  we then got to help her find just the right ornament for everyone { even ourselves }

Grandma passed away in 1999 and I didn't immediately continue the tradition... it probably wasn't until 2003 that I finally started and then it was only with gifting ornaments to Mom, Dad and the hubby.

{ of course I also picked one out for myself, after all I am a lover of ornaments... thanks to Grandma }  

BUT...

Once Carter was born I had a new motivation to go all-in with the tradition.  I now include Carter { obviously }, my brother and his girlfriend, and my mom-in-law.  Each year when we go to downtown Seattle for our Santa pictures we also make a stop at the Macy's Holiday store so that I can select the perfect ornament for everyone.   They have an amazing selection and the way they display everything reminds me of shopping at Stanek's with Grandma. { smile }

My LOVE for Christmas ornaments and the joy of decorating our tree each year is a result of Grandma's tradition, for that I am very grateful.

{ Not to mention that who wouldn't enjoy shopping for these beauties?! }

Photo courtesy of Pottery Barn.

Photo courtesy of Urban Outfitters.

Photo courtesy of Nordstrom.

The ornaments that I received from Grandma over the years are now little reminders of her love...  I wouldn't give them up for anything.  By continuing her tradition my hope is to remind my family of that love she had for us, along with letting my loved-ones know how much they mean to me.

What special traditions does your family have?  I'd love to hear about them { smile }

Decorating our Christmas tree.

It's the 1st of December and what better way to start out the month than with all the happenings of our Christmas tree decorating night { smile }  

We've been doing this since our little Prince's very first Christmas.  Each year we invite the grandparents over for dinner on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend and we all work on decorating the tree whilst talking and watching the occasional holiday movie, USA Network permitting... { Did you know they don't play holiday movies all the time on Thanksgiving weekend?!  Jeesh, how dare they! } 

Seeing as how I can hardly contain my excitement about how our tree turned out this year, I'll start with showing you a picture of it...  taa daa!

Now you'll have to wait for all of the details...  On to the food and grown-up hot chocolate!

Appetizer

I ended up making the Greek layer dip I mentioned in my "And moving on to the next holiday..." post.

Quite yummy!  And sooo very simple!  

Recipe/Guidelines/Tips for making...

1 package of your favorite hummus (or you can make it from scratch if you prefer)

1 cup chopped kalamata olives 

1/3 cup of cucumber minus the seeds

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

**I used the hummus for the bottom layer, then topped it with the olives, cucumber and feta.**

{ Remember...  you can use as much or as little of the ingredients that you want and you can add whatever you please.  The original post I found for this dip included red pepper and fresh dill, I left them out to make it to my taste. }

Dinner

Roasted Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Croutons

Again, yummy!  Here's the recipe if you want to try this!

Last, but not least the Grown-up Hot Chocolate with HOMEMADE marshmallows!!

Rich and creamy, sweet-delicious hot chocolate with a touch of marshmallow vodka, topped off with a homemade Bailey's Irish Cream marshmallow!  { Both Dad and hubby approved. }

My marshmallows definitely tasted like marshmallows, but they didn't quite reach their fluffy potential and rather than making an entire second batch we used them and they were wonderful...  definitely a must try!   

Here's the recipe in case you want to try making them yourself (remember to substitute Bailey's for the beer in the recipe) and let me know how they turn out for you!  

AND FINALLY...

 all about our Christmas tree!!

Ornaments

I picked the majority of them up at Michael's on Saturday morning for a steal...

 50% off plus an additional 20% = AMAZING!

My color inspiration for our tree came from this single "ornament"...

{ I think they're meant for putting on wreaths, but Mom worked some magic and turned it into an ornament instead. }

I absolutely LOVE the brown, the orange, the blue and turquoise...  I instantly knew these would be the colors for the tree!!

I love to use glass balls { if you couldn't tell }, ribbon for the garland { this year I found some glitter encrusted ribbon to use }, and this year I just happened to have a piece of material that matched wonderfully that I used to cover the base of the tree!

Then came the time to put all of the decorations on the tree, Mommy had a special little helper/assistant...

And then came pictures of us all in front of the tree...  

The only thing left to get to make this Christmas tree perfect is the matching/coordinating wrapping paper that I saw as we were leaving Michael's { wink }

Of course I'm just kidding, I know that's a little overboard...  right?!

When do you put up your Christmas tree?  I know there are people out there who put it up on the 1st of November and then some wait until Christmas week...  where do you fall in this vast spectrum?

The long-awaited, Thanksgiving recap.

First came breakfast...

This is the yummy-delicious Eggs Benedict Casserole that I made.

 { I heart eggs benedict }  

Another great find on Pinterest, here's the recipe.

Then it was time to start the desserts...  Mom made two pies, apple and pumpkin, while I made a sheet cake, Cinnamon Roll Pumpkin Vanilla Sheet cake to be exact.

Delicious/moist/rich, so many words to describe the yumminess that is this cake and so little space.  

Get the recipe here from Picky Palate.

For dinner I made a side dish of sweet potatoes, the same one I made last year...  I guess this disliker of sweet potatoes finally found a recipe that she likes.  

Thank you, Food Network for creating this wonderful recipe.

And now some pictures of the Prince and family from Thanksgiving...

Everyone's ready to head out to Mom Woods', just waiting on me I'm sure. { smile }

Carter's Thanksgiving outfit and his cool fire truck.

Our little family.

Carter and his wonderful grandparents.

My parents, aren't they cute together?!

Playing with his cars at Ma's house.

I hope your Thanksgiving was filled with family, friends and most importantly LOVE, like mine was. 

{ Coming soon to a blog near you...  pics from our Christmas tree decorating night!! }