IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME, FOLKS. Yes, the month-ish long moment in time where family traditions surface and I eat my weight in my great grandma’s recipe spritz cookies, walnut balls, and homemade apple pies that my mom makes every year. There’s something that lingers in the cold crisp air around this time of year that makes me incredibly grateful and blessed to have such a loving and warm family that has established many traditions that I will pass down when it’s my turn to raise a family.

Picture this: You wake up on Christmas morning, you look at the clock and realize it’s 7 a.m. — too early per mom and dad’s wishes. You grab your stuffed lovies and shuffle over to your older brothers room. Upon inspection, he’s already awake too, so you climb up onto his bed and the two of you start giggling and gabbing about what treasures they’re about to find under the tree. Finally, you hear mom and dad start to stir and you catapult into their room, anxiously urging them to go downstairs and set everything up to prep for your arrival. They descend the stairs and then... there’s more waiting.

But you know it’ll be worth it when the times comes. At last, you hear your parents call up to you, letting you know... IT’S TIME. You and your brother look at one another and you can’t help your electric smile that extends from ear to ear. You climb down the stairs to the most picturesque sight 8-year-old you could imagine: a beautifully lit REAL Christmas tree with presents overflowing around it, the sounds of The Carpenters Christmas CD tinkering through speakers, and the soft glow of the fire illuminating your parent’s ecstatic faces as you begin the moments of discovery and joy that being together as a family induce.

Enchanting story, no?

As I’ve gotten older, these traditions... really haven’t changed. Only now, part of the process includes making coffee for my brother and I and my little sister is the one climbing into my bed with excitement and anticipation, but nonetheless the consistency in these memories and moments every year instill that sense of Christmas magic in me and allow me to still feel like that excited little kid. I am immensely looking forward to the day when my future husband and I integrate these traditions into our own family and keep the magic going in my own adult life for years to come.