Hello lovely Pepper & Her Pups readers! I'm Michelle and I write over at The Momma Bird. I like to write about life, parenting, being a military spouse, educational tips, and of course my faith in God. I also have a fun little vlog that I started up recently to lighten the mood. I was pretty thrilled when Liz asked me to join in on the Christmas fun on her blog! I'm sure you guys already know this but isn't she so sweet?! Hope you guys enjoy my little guest post!! :)



If you missed it in my intro paragraph, I'm a military spouse. And being a military spouse means spending the holidays away from family. When we lived in the states we were an 18hr drive from family, and now we're a 9 hr flight from them! We used to make that god-awful drive when we lived in the US but there's no way I'm making that flight again anytime soon!



When we lived in the states, one of our family traditions was to stay up until midnight and then open all of our presents together! My sister & I started this so we could sleep in on Christmas morning instead of having to wake up all early with our parents. We were pretty smart & convincing teens. It also worked out great once I got married because we would spend Christmas Eve with my parents and then Christmas Day with my hubs family. Win-Win!



When we moved to England last year, it was the day before Halloween. We moved into our house the DAY BEFORE THANKSGIVING! (and you better believe I got that kitchen set up & made Thanksgiving dinner the next day!) A few weeks later we were nearing on Christmas and it was a little bittersweet being without our families, especially with it being our youngest son's 1st Christmas. My husband, the thoughtful man that he is, decided to start a little tradition for us - on Christmas Eve we headed out to a castle a few hours from us. This was our 1st official 'sight seeing' trip! He surprised me because I had no idea where we were going. It was so fun! Cold - but fun! We are now thinking of which castle to head out and venture to this Christmas Eve. I think it's such a neat experience being able to bring our kiddos to a castle each year. (not that they'll remember - but they'll have the pictures to believe it!)


You may not be far from your family, most of you are probably close. But I think it's so important to have special traditions to celebrate with your loved ones. Be it a silly song you sing together each year, wearing Christmas themed jammies the night before, making a special breakfast on Christmas morning, or even all staying up until midnight together to ring in Christmas Day!



If you end up starting a new Christmas tradition this year, I'd love to hear about it! Or, if you already have some fun traditions in place, let me know - maybe we'll adopt them as well!! :)