Our Family Christmas Traditions: Keeping Christ at the Center While Still Loving Santa

Christmas Traditions

Every year, our little house comes alive the moment the Christmas lights go up. The smell of cookies, the sound of Christmas music, and two little boys running around in matching pajamas — it’s chaotic and perfect all at once.

We don’t have a “Pinterest-perfect” home, but we have something better: a home filled with joy, laughter, and faith. And this time of year, that means one thing… our family Christmas traditions. 🎄

🎅 1. Visiting Santa at Bass Pro (and Why We Still Go)

Every year, we load up the boys — matching PJs and all — and head to Bass Pro to see Santa. There’s candy canes, toy displays, and usually at least one meltdown before we make it to the big man himself.

Some people wonder why we “do Santa” if we’re raising our boys to know Jesus. But for us, it’s simple — Santa is part of the joy and wonder of childhood. And in our home, that joy always points back to the One who gave it all.

Shop our matching PJs HERE

🌟 2. Starting Christmas (and Every) Morning with Scripture

Before we dive into presents, we gather in the living room — still in our PJs — and read the story of Jesus’ birth. Michael prays over our family for the year ahead and asks for blessings for the coming year.

It’s the quietest moment of our day and the most meaningful.

Here's the Bible we use with the kids and our favorite cozy blanket linked on our LTK

🍬 3. Making Christmas Cookies and Candy to Share with Friends and Family

One of our favorite Christmas traditions is spending an afternoon in the kitchen making homemade Christmas candy and cookies to share. We spread out parchment paper, melt chocolate, crush peppermint, and let the boys help with drizzling and decorating. It’s messy, sweet, and full of laughter — just the way it should be.

When the candy sets and the cookies cool, we package it up in simple tins or cellophane bags tied with ribbon. The boys help deliver them to grandparents, neighbors, and friends from church. It’s a small act, but it’s one of the ways we teach them that giving — even something as simple as homemade candy — is one of the sweetest parts of Christmas.

🎁 4. Wrapping for Others Before Ourselves

Before we wrap our own gifts, we pick one person or family to bless that year. Sometimes it’s a neighbor, a friend from church, or someone we don’t even know.

The boys help choose and wrap the gift — it’s our little way of teaching them generosity in action.

🕯️ 5. A Simple Christmas Eve at Home

We don’t go out much on Christmas Eve. We light a candle, make hot cocoa, turn on “The Polar Express,” and just be together as a family. There are years when we get together to celebrate Aunt Evie's birthday. We try to keep that day special for her, too.

Before bed, we read Luke chapter 2 and pray together — thanking God for sending His Son, and for another Christmas as a family. We also read "The Night Before Christmas". We love watching the boys' faces as they hear the classic story.