I know some of this is related to the fact that we don't have children yet, but I still feel like we should at least TRY to find a tradtion that we can call our own.
Since we have been married, it seems like we have to adopt both sets of families traditions. Luckily for us, our Christmas traditions were significantly enough different that there isn't much overlap. My family has always opened presents on Christmas Eve, followed by attending Midnight Mass at our local Church. His family opened their presents on Christmas morning and then ate a yummy french toast breakfast. This makes it relatively easy to attend both families activities.
But this past weekend, I think we were lucky enough to FINALLY find our FIRST ORIGINAL Christmas family tradition!
Our new tradition is to ride the Niles Train of Lights between the small towns of Niles and Sunol. Both of our families have lived in the area our whole lives and not one of us had ever been on the train!
My parents, sister, mother in-law, brother in-law and of course The Hubs and I started our journey in the town of Niles. Since we arrived early (this train is so popular good seats go fast) we had some time to walk the streets of this quaint town. We perused antique shops on main street and admired the town's simple holiday decorations.
Before boarding the train, I took some pictures of the fun lights used to decorate the outside. Since we had never been before I wasn't sure what sort of opporutnity we would get to actually see the lights. Turns out, the train we were on passed a second train coming from the opposite direction so that passengers on one train could enjoy the lights of the other. The lights were so fun and festive, both the kids and adults on board LOVED them!
Once we got on the train, we were suprised to see that the inside was also decorated with garland and twinkle lights (sorry for the somewhat blurry picture...I really need to play with my camera settings more!).
There were so many children who were all excited about the fun of being on a colorful holiday train. The excitement reached another level though when a special visitor appeared at the end of the car we were on....SANTA! Even my 20 year old sister was excited (that's her in the braids)!
The train ride was such a fun experience even for us adults! I found myself smiling from ear to ear looking at all the lights and waving at the passengers in the other train as they passed by. I can only imagine what fun it will be for The Hubs and I to bring our children on the train so we can see their eyes like up with wonder!
If you couldn't tell, I'm really quite excited about this new Christmas tradition! I can't wait until next year!
Have any of you found it difficult to create your traditions separate from your extended families?
What traditions do you plan on creating with your own family?
No comments:
Post a Comment