Happy Friday! I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and has a fun holiday weekend! This is such a fun time of year and definitely part of my favorite. I love the holiday season and all of the traditions that come along with it. My family is big on traditions (probably because we all like schedules and predictability) so each year we know exactly what fun things we can look forward to. While we have our tried and true favorites we still love starting new traditions as we get older. Andrew and I have also started a few of our own holiday traditions and now that we are expecting a baby I can’t wait to start more over the next few years and introduce our little one to some of the traditions we loved growing up.

I thought it would be fun to share a few of my favorite holiday traditions and hear from everyone else what your personal favorites are so feel free to share in the comments 🙂

Homemade Noodles

This is a tradition that I can remember from when we were super little. Each year my mom makes homemade noodles. It is typically the weekend after Thanksgiving when we are all still home to enjoy it together. My sister and I love helping and its a meal we always look forward to. This is definitely a tradition I hope to share with my own kids every holiday season.

Picking out a Fresh Tree

Decorating CookiesThis tradition is a little less “time specific” as we don’t have a specific day that we decorate cookies but I never miss the opportunity to decorate festive cookies during the holiday season! Whether baking them from scratch, using a mix or decorating a store bought gingerbread house, I always look forward to this fun tradition. This is one I hope my kids will enjoy just as much!

Making Cinnamon Rolls

For the past 4 or 5 years we have cinnamon rolls as part of our Christmas morning breakfast. Making them is one of my favorite things about Christmas weekend and of course eating them isn’t too bad either ;). The recipe makes a TON so we usually send some over to Andrew’s parents too. It is fun to make something everyone can enjoy Christmas weekend with their family.

Watching “Its a Wonderful Life”

As a family we watch “Its a Wonderful Life” every year. It is one of our favorites and I always look forward to spending that evening together before we celebrate Christmas. While I absolutely love this movie specifically I would be happy to have a festive movie night tradition in the coming years as we start new traditions with our little one.

Cocoa NightThis is a relatively new tradition but one that I absolutely love doing. My mom plans a NYE celebration every year for our family and while they are here in Omaha to celebrate Andrew and I host them on the 30th for hot cocoa and treats. My mom has always gone above and beyond to plan fun events and activities for us kids so I love being able to host them each year even if its just a simple night of cocoa. (You can read about our Cocoa Night here and here).

I would love to hear about your own holiday traditions! I am anxious to start new ones over the years as our family grows and of course pass on some of my childhood favorites!