I am OVER THE MOON excited for this week — after a busy semester of school & photography, being on break could not come at a better time. We got to celebrate with Chris’s family over the weekend, my sister is in the CLE with us already, and for the first time EVER, we are hosting Christmas at our house!!! It’s gonna be an exciting week for sure!

In honor of the Monday Love, I wanted to share a few of my favorite Christmas traditions that are near & dear to my heart today! Some of these are old, some are new ones Chris & I started, and all are full of Christmas cheer :)

1. PAJAMAS on Christmas Eve! My family has done this ever since I can remember, and Chris & I kept the tradition alive last year on our first Christmas alone — it is one of my favorites!
2. Speaking of pjs, another newer tradition Chris & started for our first married Christmas was found in implementing a strict tree decorating dress code: Christmas jammies!!! :) Our tree process was a bit cray this year (accidentally buying a Christmas tree bigger than your tree stand will do that to ya…), but we made sure to put on some Christmas tunes & our favorite pjs BOTH days of decorating :P
3. Secret-Reishus-Recipe-Sugar-Cookies: Because no Christmas is complete without them :)
4. Homemade CARAMELS!! While this is a tradition we slightly skipped this year due to December craziness (oops..), I am sure it will be back in action next year! My Papa has a delicious homemade caramel recipe, so Chris & I decided to try it out ourselves two years ago. It’s a LOT of work, but definitely worth it in the end!
5. And, last but not least, the Christmas PICKLE!! This is another fun one my family started many years ago. My mom hides a pickle ornament on our Christmas Tree, and the first sibling to find it gets to unwrap the family Christmas Eve gift!!! For a while there I had a big run on the rest of my siblings…but the last few Christmases the competition has stepped it up a bit :)

What are your favorite holiday traditions?? I would love to hear about them below!

I also wanted to let you know that Sami Renee Photography will be “closed” this week in order to enjoy the holidays & BE with the ones I love!!! I’ve set up an auto-response on email, so feel free to still contact me there, but I won’t be back in business until Monday morning!

From my family to yours, MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!