We’re so excited this week to bring you Christmas traditions from some of our favorite bloggers. You’re going to love getting to know these ladies, and hopefully you’ll get some new ideas for some holiday traditions of your own! First up this week is my cousin Anne. You might know her from Bloom, her personal blog, or her adorable online instagram shop. I love Anne to pieces, and not just because we’re family! She’s an amazing mother, hostess, and woman. She is hilarious, and I wish we lived closer.
My husband, Taylor, and I are big on traditions. Basically we like to celebrate and we like to eat. We feast on latkes on the first night of Hanukkah, we never miss Chinese New Year, and we have a huge donut party on Valentine’s Day.
But, for me, the tradition that tops them all is the Cropper Family Christmas Eve. First of all, for dinner we go out to Mexican. PURE GENIUS. No one has to cook, no one has to wash dishes. Unlimited chips and salsa? Yes, please!
After dinner we gather at my in-laws where we do a family talent show and nativity. Although we’re stuffed from fajitas and pina coladas, we enjoy a buffet of Cropper classics like clam dip and Nanaimo bars, and settle in for the amazing entertainment.
What I love about the talent show is that it’s a totally mixed bag and each year is something different. We have serious piano and violin numbers one year and Grammy and Grampy dressing up in ridiculous costumes singing “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” the next. If you’re not particularly a performer, no worries! Kids show their latest paintings, our friend Ami reads her beautiful poetry, a baby sits up and claps. My favorite performance of all time dates back to when my son, Roger, was three. He brought a cutting board, butter knife, and vegetables up to the ‘stage’ and demonstrated his food prep skills. I was prepared for the cute quirkiness of such a talent, but he blew us all away when he started really hamming it up, chopping with bravado, and handing sliced carrots and celery out to the audience members. It was like watching Emeril Live! As for Taylor and me, we usually do some sort of song. Pictured is our performance from last year, as we channeled our inner Johnny and June and sang “It Ain’t Me, Babe!”
Following the talents, the children dress in costumes and act out the nativity, as a narrator reads from the New Testament and we all sing corresponding Christmas Carols. Sometimes the wise men get the giggles and sometimes the little sheep take off their fuzzy ears, but there is a sweet, tender spirit that fills the room and our hearts. It’s the perfect ending to a perfect evening.
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