5 of Our Favorite Family Christmas Traditions

1. We burn a Christmas countdown advent candle.

I feel like this first tradition is pretty unique to us, in fact I don’t know any other families that do it. As a child, my mom always had one 15 inch advent candle, numbered 1-25 for each day in December leading up to Christmas Day. We’d burn the candle at our dinner time meal, and my siblings and I would take turns blowing it out.

It’s not the typical advent display, but it’s unique and simple. And yes, many times we are away for dinner or forget to burn it, but then we just burn it extra longer the next night. It’s part of the fun!

2. We read Christmas books.

Over the years I have gathered Christmas books from yard sales, consignment sales and I even have some saved from when I was a child! I pack them all away with our Christmas decorations, and then every year on Black Friday when we set up our tree, we pull them out and read one a day (sometimes more because we just love them!)

Here are some of our favorites:

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Do your kids love this as much as mine do? Its the first one my youngest grabs and begs for me to read to him when we unbox everything!
• The Polar Express – A classic for sure!
• Merry Christmas Big Hungry Bear – I think this book might be hard to find, I’m not sure where I got mine, but its a great one too! A timid mouse, a big bear, and a wonderful surprise.
• Merry Christmas Strega Nona – We received several of the Strega Nona books as a set when our kids were younger, and I’ve really grown to appreciate them.
• * Treasury of Christmas Stories for Families – I don’t know if you’ll easily find this book available anymore, but its a fantastic one! The stories I had never heard before, but have left an imprint in my mind since I first read them to my kids probably ten years ago!
• Family Christmas by James Dobson – This is another one I found at a yardsale I think. The stories are for an older audience, but they are tear-jerkers!
• The Poky Little Puppy (A Little Golden Book) – I love books that encourage my kids to be givers and understand that the best gift of Christmas are the ones that you give. I found this at the JBF Holiday Sale a few years ago.
• The Berenstain Bears and the Joy of Giving – One of my kids adores all the Berenstain Bears books, and I don’t mind because there are so many great stories in their books. This is another one that encourages the gift of giving.
• Franklin’s Christmas Gift – We saved this since the kids were little. It’s about Franklin and how he can’t decide what toy to donate to the school Christmas drive.
• * Unwrapping the Great Gift: A Family Celebration of Christmas – Beautiful pictures and wonderfully scripted stories. They are a little longer, and sometimes my littles didn’t sit through all of it, but still very good.
• * The Best Christmas Pageant Ever – You absolutely must add this book to your collection! My kids have a love / hate relationship with it because they get so frustrated and uncomfortable at the behaviors of the Herdman siblings, but its a beautiful story, and the ending always makes us all cry. (Hmm, maybe that’s why they say they don’t like it? 😂)

This year we are are adding a new book to our list of Christmas books. I have heard SO MANY positive things about Jotham’s Journey: A Storybook for Advent. Each night of advent, starting the 4th Sunday before Christmas, we read about a ten-year old boy who journey’s across Israel as he searches for his family. So far it has been very good, and I think this will definitely be added to our Christmas traditions!

3. We drive around enjoying Christmas Light shows.

This tradition is so much fun. We put on our pajamas and load up in the van with some Christmas cookies and our Christmas Lights in Lancaster County Map. Then we drive around and enjoy the beautiful lights.

Our favorites of course are the homes and displays that put music to their lights—Transiberian Orchestra is my all-time favorite, although a few years ago a local church did a Star Wars Christmas light show that topped the list!

4. We enjoy holiday train displays.

In 2020, I’m not sure how many train display we’ll have the privilege of enjoying, but I’m sure we’ll make a visit to Frysville Farms, our family favorite. They have a unique scavenger hunt and probably one of the largest displays I’ve ever seen!

If you’re looking for more train shows for your family to enjoy, consider checking this list of of Model Train Displays in Lancaster County.

5. We hang 30+ Christmas stockings that my Grandma made me every year since I was born.

Every year since I was born, my Grandma made me a Christmas stocking. Each year was different and unique in design, style and size. I don’t have them all, but I have many of them and they are such a special gift and keepsake. It’s amazing to me to think that she made these for all her grandchildren for so many years, even while being in and out of the hospital a lot as I was a child.