St. Nicholas Day: A Family Tradition

One of my favorite Christmas traditions growing up was St. Nicholas Day. Although we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sometimes known as "Mormons" my mom instituted we celebrate St. Nicholas Day on December 6th. St. Nicholas Day is commonly celebrated in European countries. It is thought that Santa Claus bringing gifts is based off St. Nicholas Day. Read more here.

 We set our shoes out on the fireplace hearth on the 5th of December. In the morning they would be filled with a small surprise, like hair things, candy or a small toy. It was a simple tradition but one we looked forward to. As a teenager, I liked to set out my most daring shoe for St. Nicholas. When we went to college, St. Nicholas still found us, via US Mail! His handwriting was strangely similar to my mom's ;)

I plan on carrying on this tradition with my family as well. Just another magical way to make December memorable!

In my husband's basketball sneaker: The Beach Boys's Sounds of Summer.(affiliate link)

In my bootie : Welch's Fruit Snacks, (affiliate link) because I love fruit snacks

In my daughter's boot: We Belong Together by Joyce Wan. (affiliate link) I LOVED this book when we got it from the library and I'm so happy we own it now! It's got really cute illustrations and I think it's perfect for a parent-child relationship or for siblings.

Our favorite Christmas traditions

Christmas is a time for family in the Wayward households! When we Wayward Girls were growing up, Mom made sure we established lots of traditions to tie our family together. Here are a few of our favorites.

Mom has a gorgeous advent calendar, which I tried to replicate, but couldn't. So I went Wayward for my felt advent calendar.

Mom makes super creative Christmas cards:

Noel Folding Cards

Christmas photo card

We learn about the symbols of Christmas:

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with extra care, since Mom made these custom patchwork stockings specially designed for each of us (and our husbands and kids now, too!)

My mom's brothers and parents live in town, and we all get together at our house on Christmas Eve for dinner, caroling, and cookies. Our sugar cookies with drizzle frosting are a favorite!

Jasmine's awesome Harry Potter cookies do not really reflect the other cookie tradition . . . making them super ugly.

At this family gathering, we exchange special handmade gifts. We draw names at Thanksgiving and come up with something extra special for our Gifts from the Heart.

Last year, Jasmine shared her Gift from the Heart for our grandma, an avid Scrabble player, with all her grandkids' names.

Then we read the Christmas story from the Book of Luke (and Cajun Night Before Christmas), and finally, we get to open ONE gift: our Christmas pajamas. Here are all of the Wayward Girls in our first-thing-in-the-morning, TAKE-THE-DANG-PICTURE-ALREADY glory--not shown: zebra print fleece PJ pants!

And most importantly, since this will be THREE babies' first Christmases, 

WE ALWAYS STICK A BOW ON THE BABY'S HEAD.

(My older two kids, with my sister-in-law at right)

Last year, we were so happy to celebrate Christmas and then Jasmine's wedding together.

This year, most of us Wayward Girls will be continuing these traditions in our own families, and starting new ones.

What are your favorite Christmas traditions?

Top banner photo credit: ornament by Avi