Christmas is here.

I think I might be finally getting it, after all these years.

Christmas isn't about recreating the same memories that I had as a kid. Or recreating a magazine cover.

It's remembering some old traditions -- and some new -- while creating new memories for us as a family. I've known this. I've just not lived like it for...pretty much all of our married life. Each year I feel like I've been on a mission to mimic - to mimic the Christmases I remembered as a child. And each year I've packed away the boxes feeling a little empty. Not this year.

I really love what Christmas means. I love that the meaning is steeped in a core belief of our lives - that Christ came as a baby to pay atonement for our sin. And I love the traditions created throughout the world that have expanded the celebration into a meaningful time to spend with family and friends. I love bells, silver, red ribbons, cookies, pine, snow, lights, music, and those little nonpareil mints that only come around once a year. I love that life seems simpler at Christmas. That everything is better after a rousing snowball fight or evening in front of the fire with hot cocoa in hand listening to christmas music. I love sappy Christmas movies.

And so this year, I'm doing things a bit different. The girls helped me start decorating this morning. (I usually decorate at night when I don't have two little elves helping.) I let them decide where to hang a bunch of the items. And now we have ornaments decking out all of our door handles. I don't think I would have thought of it on my own, but Lydia thought it was a great idea, and I heartily agree. It was so much more meaningful to actually engage them in the process of decking out the house, and we made some fun memories too. (Lydia got a bell ornament (the one in the background of this photo) stuck on her finger.)

I love that they're the ornaments that my Grandma Horvath made for us before she passed away. They're made out of tatted lace, an heirloom craft that she passed down to me when I was little. One of these days I'm going to bring out my shuttles and continue the tradition by teaching Lydia and Millie. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy looking at them when I pass through the hallway of our home each day this Christmas season, remembering Grandma Horvath, and the sweet lessons I'm learning from my kids.