We're pretty minimalistic when it comes to traditions, but we've got a few things we try to keep consistent every year, no matter where we're at when Christmas rolls around. One of them, speaking of rolls, is cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast. This is a tradition both Andrew and I grew up with, so it is not like we had to choose sides or anything when it came to deciding what to have for our own family's Christmas breakfast!
Another tradition that we have is going for a Christmas day walk. It's a great tradition for folks who might be anywhere in the world December 25, because you can (almost) always go for a walk. In 2008, on our very first Christmas together, (side note: this was two days before we were engaged) we were in Olympia, WA, and it was really snowy. We bundled up in hats, scarves, boots, and all of that nasty junk and tripped and stumbled around the neighborhood where my parents live, wading through the drifts and trying not to slip on the hills.
The next year we had been married for five months, and were between our time in England and moving to Tanzania as a couple. We were in Arch Cape, OR, with Andrew's family for Christmas. We went for a short little walk, and I don't remember much about it. I think it was raining, but we toughed it out for a wee while.
In 2010, we were living in our first house in Tanzania. For lack of much else to do that day, we decided that since we had gone for a walk both of the Christmases before, we should do another and call it a tradition. (To read about Christmas 2010 and see pictures from our walk: http://www.amsandeen.blogspot.com/2010/12/christmas-2010.html.)
We kept up the tradition in 2011 (in Tanzania), in 2012 (on the Oregon coast for a beach walk with Andrew's sister Karen and her family - although we confess we did that one on the 26th due to Christmas day logistics and two tiny babies involved in the event), and in 2013 - see pictures below!
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| The little strip of blue just below the far-away hills is Lake Victoria. |
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| The lake really is huge - this is just a wee inlet of it between two peninuslas |
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| Zarya loves going outside! As squished as she appears here, she's really quite happy in her carrier. |
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| I love the ginormous rocks around here! |
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| Hi everybody! I can walk! Zarya got to walk the last bit all by herself. |
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