Christmas Cookie Baking_2012

Every year, our family partakes in a ton of Christmas traditions.  So far... we have stuck with them all, but each year, we add one or two new ones.  Baking Christmas cookies is one of our family's favorite traditions, especially Darren's.  We start with a batter, we roll the dough, and we cut out our favorite Christmas shapes. THEN... we frost and decorate. NORMALLY, these cookies are meant for Santa, but this year, we made them for Jesus too. Usually, Jesus  receives a cake, but we had company ALL day on Christmas and the cake never got made :( 

Tyson wasn't part of this tradition this year.  He chose to spend the evening with the Smith family.  They traveled to Blacksburg to tour the inside of a home that was decorated to the hilt.  We missed him dearly, honestly.  

The next day, after the cookies were finished, we made Santa a plate along with some chocolate milk (Jax's request).  Tyson was able to write out the note this year.  It read, "Enjoy the milk and cookies!  Love, Tyson, Lilah, and Jax".  We also fed the reindeer.  We feed them a mixture of oatmeal and glitter.  The oatmeal is for energy and the glitter is for flying power. 

Our newest Christmas tradition, was our change in WHEN we open gifts.  We want our focus of Christmas to be on CHRIST, not gifts... spending time with family and relaxing too.  So, this year, we opened gifts on Christmas Eve.  It really did help make our day more enjoyable and focused on the things that matter most. To view ALL of our Christmas baking photos, double click on the photo album below.  Enjoy!!!