Our Christmas Traditions

[ann]Daniel’s Outfit: Shirt: Nordstrom | Pants: Daniel Buchler | Slippers: UGG
Daryl-Ann’s Outfit: Shirt: PJ Salvage (comes in set) | Pants: Make + Model | Fuzzy Socks: Nordstrom[/ann]

The Christmas season is undoubtedly my favorite time of year!  Not only is it festive and fun all month long, but it’s Daniel and my birthday month, too (fun fact: we have the same birthday!).  One of the things that makes this time of year so fun for us is the Christmas traditions we do.  Some of these we have adopted from our families and childhood and others we have started as our own little family of two!  I know that as our family grows over the years, our traditions will too, but today I wanted to share the Christmas traditions we love and do every holiday season.

New Pajamas on Christmas Eve

This is one my mom has been doing since we were little!  Every year on Christmas Eve, we have a prime rib dinner with just my immediate family (and now our spouses!).  After dinner, we cozy up on the couch and open a new pair of pajamas to wear that night.  We all change into them and watch a movie…usually Elf!

I love this tradition so much because Christmas Eve night is so fun and cozy, and it just adds to it!  Most of the time, my mom gets our pajamas from Nordstrom!  This year, Daniel and I each got each other a pair early so we could wear them all season long.  Hey, two pairs of pajamas never hurt anyone 😉.  Since Daniel doesn’t usually like pajamas, I search Nordstrom’s men’s loungewear section for cozy clothes for him.  His favorite brands are Daniel Buchler (so soft!) and UGG.  This year he is loving this long sleeve tee.  It is such nice quality for the price point, and can be worn as loungewear or with a pair of jeans!  And these UGG slippers he puts on as soon as he gets home.  They would make the best gift!

He got me this pajama set that says “Merry Kissmas!” and these super soft joggers and fuzzy socks!  Here are a bunch of loungewear pieces that would make the perfect cozy pajamas this time of year, or the perfect gift for just about anyone on your list!

Men’s Pajamas + Loungewear

Women’s Pajamas + Loungewear

Operation Christmas Child

Right around Thanksgiving, we always fill up an Operation Christmas Child shoe box!  This year I took my Instagram family along via Instagram Stories and they loved it as much as we do!  The way it works is you pick a gender and age group, and then fill up a shoebox with goodies that will be delivered to a child in need in another country.

This year we did a 10-14 year old girl, and had so much fun filling the box with all things crafts, games, and beauty items!  This is the easiest and one of the most rewarding ways to give back during the holiday season, and it has become one of mine and Daniel’s favorite Christmas traditions.

Ornaments from the Places we Travel to

Whenever we travel to a new location, we always buy an ornament and have the year written on it to add to our Christmas tree.  We have so many fun ones from the different places we have travelled to over the last five years.  One of my favorites is a Carnival cruise ship because Daniel and I met on one when I was fifteen!!

Christmas Tree Coffee Cakes

When I was little, my mom started making these with women from our church.  They’re such a fun and festive dessert and make the best Christmas baking activity.  Because they’re a little tough to make by just reading a recipe, we like to invite a new group of people over every year to teach!  They also make the best gifts!  We always eat a few of them on Christmas morning for breakfast.  When we make them later this week with a few friends, I will share it on my Instagram Story so you can learn too (follow along HERE)!

25 Days of Christmas

Just this year, Daniel started doing a “25 Days of Christmas” for me!  And I’m hoping it becomes an annual Christmas tradition 😉.  Every day of December, I wake up to a small gift.  So far I’ve gotten a gift card for 25 Diet Cokes, a tumbler, a cozy sweatshirt, my favorite candles, carwashes, and a bunch more fun things.  I’ve been sharing them daily over on Instagram if you want to keep up!  For someone who’s love language is gifts, this has been the most fun part of December this year!!

Thanks to Nordstrom for sponsoring this post!  As always, all opinions and selections are my own.

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