Christen E. Krumm | Spread the Christmas Joy

I’ve had many wonderful Christmases, but I think my favorites are the most resent ones—the ones I’ve spent as a mom.

We celebrate Christmas a little unorthodox. We don’t do the Christmas tree, the decorations, the exchanging of presents. Instead we focus on family and Christ. On Christmas Eve we always book a room at the Embassy Suites (something my husband’s family used to do). We check in as early as we possibly can. Donning our swimsuits, we swim until we’re all wrinkly. The kids get a kick out of swimming in the middle of winter.

We head out to dinner—since our small town doesn’t have an Embassy Suites, we are always in a bigger town, so we try to hit up a restaurant that we don’t have. After dinner may be all of our favorite part—we go to a movie! We love movies. My youngest is just a month shy of two, and he goes for the “pop-pop” (no, really. We get a family sized popcorn, and he’ll steal it and will not let anyone else have any with out a very loud “NO”—it’s so very hard to keep from laughing).

We stay up as late as we possibly can in the hotel room, playing games, and stuffing our faces with yummy snacks (for the kids that generally means mom let’s them have candy and soda).

Christmas morning, we read the Christmas story (generally from The Jesus Bible Storybook—it’s our favorite) before heading down to eat breakfast. We try to get in one more swim before check out.

Check out means it’s time for another Christmas celebration—this one with my immediate family. Lots more food, laughter, and memory making (my family is a little on the large side and a lot on the loud side).

This Christmas, with all it’s craziness, remember to take time to stop for a breather and love on your family. When it comes down to it, it’s not about the presents or decorations and all about spending time with those we love.

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Christen E. Krumm: Reader. Writer. Serious coffee drinker. Wife to Andy. Mom to Elsie, Drew, and Oliver. Jesus Lover. Whovian.

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