Christmas Traditions

Things we do every year at the Hulshof house:

Putting up the tree the weekend after Thanksgiving- I'm so glad I have Owen because now there is someone to decorate with!
Snowing on Mimi's village- On Thanksgiving, the cousins get to "snow" on the village at Mimi's house.
Elf on the Shelf- a new tradition this year but definitely a favorite so far.
Advent calendar- We've had a chocolate one the last few years and Owen gets to open it every night after dinner. Though he usually asks about doing it after breakfast.
Looking at Christmas lights- one night we all load up and go look at the lights. There was a great neighborhood in Pearland where we used to go but this year we found some great houses up here.
Undies in a can- I'm sure this is a Christmas tradition for many. When Owen was just born, I found these Guiness boxer shorts in a can at Kohls and got them because Bryan always used to drink Black and Tans. So now every year we make the trek to Kohls to get a new pair. Owen actually told me he was going to get me panties in a can this year :)
Christmas cookies- The cousins all go over to Mimi and Popi's to bake cookies and this year we even get a sleepover out of the deal!
Tamales- We get together with the Hulshofs on the day of Christmas Eve and hang out and eat tamales. I think we've done this every year since we started dating which was 14 years ago. Liz and Jim and the kids come from Saint Louis and we all hang out that day. It will be at our house this year so I've got to figure out what to make with Tamales!
Christmas morning- no matter how much we've had to drive around in the past, we've always spent Christmas morning at our house which is nice. Hopefully some of the grandparents will do it with us this year since we're close.