The Holidays this year have become pretty important to me. For one, it is mine and Shae's first holidays as Mr. & Mrs.! Secondly, I am trying super hard to make the most of it since we can't be back home in Oregon with our families. We have both been trying incredibly hard to fit in both sides of our families traditions and make them into our own. I figured I would share a few of the traditions we have!

Christmas Movie Marathon
Shae downloaded almost every Christmas movie we could possibly think of, and since the beginning of December we have watched a Christmas movie nearly every night. I love this tradition because it gets us really excited for Christmas to come!

Christmas Eve Eve Cookies
I think we just started this tradition tonight (since it is Christmas Eve Eve), but we baked sugar cookies and I think it would be a great tradition to keep.

Christmas Eve Movie 
In addition to our Christmas movie marathon, we have chose to follow one of his families traditions by saving National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation for Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Eve Pajamas
This tradition comes from my side of the family! Every year since I can remember, we have opened pajamas on Christmas Eve! It's one of my favorite things to do ever! There is something so exciting about opening a brand new pair of pajamas before you go to sleep, and then waking up and having cute Christmas pajamas to wear in the morning for when you open presents! Shae really likes this tradition too, and we had fun getting each other pajamas this year too!

I think every married couple worries about how they are going to manage both families in one Holiday, or what traditions we will get to do (or not do). Things are a little different for us because our entire family is over 3,000 miles away so we are doing our best to squeeze them all in one! Although this is our first Christmas being together as Mr. & Mrs. (we weren't together last year because he had to leave for his first duty station while I had to be at home), this is our fifth Christmas being celebrated as a couple. So we are both semi familiar with splitting up time with our families. In fact, Christmas Eve Eve is celebrated with his family by eating a delicious bowl of seafood soup and spending the rest of the night playing cards and sharing lots of laughs and conversation. This year, we watched Home Alone 2, went shopping for our surf and turf menu for tomorrow night, baked some sugar cookies, and we are now about to crawl into bed together. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

What are some of your Christmas traditions?