12 Day's of Christmas....Day 1

Hey Ya'll!

I'm sorry, I am becoming a horrible blogger! I have been very busy and I have missed my little blog so much!

I am very excited that today is Day 1 of the 12 Days of Christmas Blogging Challenge. Go on over to Aly's blog and link up!

Day 1: Christmas Traditions

I am a big fan of family traditions and I can't wait to start my own family traditions, one day!
Here are a few of our family traditions...

1. My momma and I always decorate the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving.   It is a definite must that we watch a Christmas movie while decorating the tree. A few I love are The Elf, The Grinch,  A Christmas Story, Santa Claus movies, Deck the Halls...I like them all! My mom and I put the ornaments on together but I always do the tree topper. I use several different things to stick up from the top of the tree and I am very picky about it, so my mom leaves this job to me. We finish up the inside decorations and then put candles in the windows and hang a wreath outside. We do not do a lot of decorations outside because we live in the woods (so we are the only ones who see them). I also decorate the mailbox because it can be seen from the road.

This is an older picture of our tree. I add a lot more to the top now and on the sides.

2. We always go to my brother's house and decorate the tree. The kids like for everyone to help so we all help decorate the tree and put up the outside decorations.

Ha! This is me and as you can tell by my face, I am very excited to be hanging lights on that tree!

3. We do Christmas with the kids before Christmas Eve because my dad hires a "real" Santa to deliver the kid's presents. We have dinner (always chicken and dumplings) then Santa arrives, we all sit on his knee and tell him what we want for Christmas and then he hands out the presents. The kids love this and so do I because I am a kid at heart!

4. Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas we always go over to the Speedway in Lights. Bristol Motor Speedway hosts the Speedway in Lights every year and it is beautiful. They put lights up around the entire grounds, the race track and the drag strip included. They charge admission and you drive your car around and look at the pretty lights. You can drive around the track and in the pits they have it set up like a small carnival. They have rides, funnel cakes, hot chocolate, Santa and activities for the kids!

This is a replica of a sign in downtown Bristol during the light tour.

The track all lit up! The leader board is decorated as a Christmas tree. 

Light tunnel under the grand stands!

If you are ever in town, you should definitely check out the lights. There are over 2 million lights. The Speedway in Lights normally gets around 200,000 visitors a year. It amazes me that people from California, Alaska and every other state come to see this every year!!!

5. On Christmas Eve, we always open presents at my grandmother's house. We sit around the Christmas tree, open gifts and socialize for a few hours. When we get home, my parents and I always open our gifts to each other and watch a Christmas movie.

6. On Christmas Day, my grandparents always have a huge fish fry. I do not like fish, so she makes me chicken casserole and dumplings. My family looks forward to the fish fry all year long!

What are your Christmas traditions???

Go link up...

I am, also, going to link up with Meet Me on Monday...

1.  How many pillows do you sleep with?

Well, I am counting them right now...7! I like a lot of pillows and blankets when I sleep!

2.  Where will you eat on Thanksgiving?

My family eats breakfast at my house and then we have dinner at my grandmother's.

3.  Would you rather go to a party or host a party?

I would rather host. I love to cook and decorate for parties.

4.  How many purses (for the guys..wallets) do you own?

Too many to count...I am a fan of Vera Bradley and Coach.

5.  What is your favorite kind of seafood?

I love shrimp....I could eat it everyday and I do when I am at the beach!


I am thinking about posting my Thanksgiving recipes....What do you all think?? I thought it would be great to share my recipes of what I am preparing and get new ideas from you. If you like this idea, let me know and I will post them tomorrow!

Tasha