The holidays are the best aren't they? We have so many fun traditions in my family I hardly know where to begin! Some silly and some so special.

I'll start at the beginning. Call me crazy, but there is something so fun and festive about going shopping on black Friday. Every year a few groups in the family gather our lists and map out our destinations for the day. My husband usually goes with some of his siblings and I head out with my mom and sister. This has become a tradition that I look forward to every year! Really puts me in the Christmas mood :)

As Christmas gets closer, we have our annual Family Bake Day. It has become a bit tricky now that my little family has moved to CA, but we still try to make it happen. All kinds of goodies are baked on this special day including my mom's fabulous peanut butter blossoms, my grandmother's sweet French Cigar Pastries, homemade fudge and so many more goodies! I love getting in the kitchen with these special ladies.

Christmas Eve is when lots of fun traditions come out. We start the evening with our family's White Elephant Gift Exchange. Lots of laughs and some crazy gag gifts are always involved. We usually have the kids decorate cookies and take lots of pictures. My mom always makes her famous sandwich platter so we have plenty of food to munch on all night. Ever since my sister and I were married, we made it a tradition to have our families sleep over at our Mom and Dad's home on Christmas Eve. It is always complete chaos, but it has turned into such a fun tradition. Everyone always opens a Christmas Eve Gift that is always new PJ's :) Once we talk about the true meaning of Christmas with the kids, put out our Santa's plate of cookies and milk, we tuck the kids into bed then the adults watch Christmas movies and wrap presents until the wee hours of the morning.

The kids including my 15 year old brother always wake up nice and early to see what Santa brought them. The great thing about having all of our family in AZ, is after we finish Christmas morning at my moms, we head to the in-laws and do it all again!

Hope you've enjoyed a peek at some of our favorite traditions :) What are your favorites, I would love to hear about it!