{"id":1994,"date":"2008-12-19T00:00:22","date_gmt":"2008-12-19T00:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shilohwalker.wordpress.com\/?p=1994"},"modified":"2008-12-19T00:00:22","modified_gmt":"2008-12-19T00:00:22","slug":"christmas-traditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/2008\/12\/christmas-traditions\/","title":{"rendered":"Christmas Traditions…"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love Christmas.\u00a0 I swear, I’m like a kid with it.\u00a0 I nag the DH to let me peek at presents early, I’m often one of the first, if not THE first, up in our house on Christmas morning.<\/p>\n

I was so mad Tuesday night because I didn’t realize it until it was too late that it was the night the Charlie Brown<\/strong><\/em> Christmas special came on and we were doing a double class at taekwondo, getting ready for testing.\u00a0 Missed Charlie Brown! Scream!<\/p>\n

Every year, the kids and I take their nana out to drive around and look at lights.<\/p>\n

Every year, we watch A Year Without A Santa Claus<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I believe in Santa Claus<\/em><\/p>\n

Like I believe in love<\/em><\/p>\n

I believe in Santa Claus<\/em><\/p>\n

And every thing he does<\/em><\/p>\n

There’s no question<\/em><\/p>\n

In my mind<\/em><\/p>\n

Yes he does exist<\/em><\/p>\n

Just like love<\/em><\/p>\n

You know he’s there<\/em><\/p>\n

Waiting to be missed<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That song comes on and I sniffle, I get chills, I cuddle my kids.\u00a0 Then, of course, we dance to the song the Miser Brothers sing.\u00a0 And I’ve passed the\u00a0 love of that silly old show onto the kids.\u00a0 \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Every year, we get together with my mom and brothers, the nieces and nephews and exchange presents on Christmas Eve.\u00a0\u00a0 We spend Christmas afternoon visiting the inlaws, then my grandmother and we wrap it up with a trip to see my dad.<\/p>\n

It’s my favorite day of the year and my wish for others this Christmas season is that they can experience some of this joy as well.<\/p>\n

Since it’s the season to give, I guess I really do need a contest…so how about a goody bag and a signed copy of THE MISSING<\/strong>?\u00a0 If by chance you’ve already bought that book (thank you!!!), then don’t worry, enter anyway, because I’ve got a decent supply of backlist books on hand, too.\u00a0 And…hmmmm…how about an ARC of FRAGILE<\/a>**, my 2\/09 romantic suspense?<\/span><\/p>\n

ETA: Contest is over, guys!\u00a0 Winning name to be posted the week of 1\/5.<\/span><\/p>\n

\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

To enter, all you have to do is tell me a favorite Christmas tradition that you have (or if you don’t celebrate Christmas, a favorite family tradition\/Hannukah\/etc). Anybody can win, so long as you follow the normal contest rules (found here if you’re not familiar with them<\/a>).<\/p>\n

I’ll let the contest run for a few days and then get a winner’s name drawn and posted.<\/p>\n

Merry Christmas!<\/p>\n

**to those who received an ARC during the blogging contest, feel free to enter, although I’ll swap your ARC out for a book from my backlist.\u00a0 ARCs are kind of limited…<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love Christmas.\u00a0 I swear, I’m like a kid with it.\u00a0 I nag the DH to let me peek at presents early, I’m often one “Christmas Traditions…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10161045129738658_54762468447":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_bluesky_dont_syndicate":"","_bluesky_syndication_accounts":"","_bluesky_syndication_text":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[11,42],"tags":[127,204],"class_list":["post-1994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-contests-winners","category-ponderings","tag-contests-and-winners","tag-merry-christmas"],"yoast_head":"\nChristmas Traditions... - 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