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[#1]

My mother started a Holiday tradition years ago, way before I was married or living on my own, with me and my siblings.

About four weeks before Christmas, she would gift each of us with a Holiday Bin.  

Literally, it was a plastic bin filled to the brim with holiday decorations, festive pillows and sheets, Holiday-inspired pajamas, holiday books and a photo album filled with photos of each of us throughout the year.  Each bin was completely personalized and she would even take the time to monogram the pajamas with our names on them, along with the year.

My mother has been carrying on this incredible tradition for the last 12 years. 

It was and still is, the most special gift in the world to receive because my mother puts so much love and passion and heart and spirit and effort into making our "Holiday Bin" as special as can be.  It's something, throughout the years, that we have all looked forward to receiving because it's always fun to see what my mother has filled our bins with and what she has found throughout the year to surprise us with, there's always something!

When me and my siblings started to have our own children, the traditional Holiday Bin changed a bit and this has been my most favorite part.  My mother started to add monogrammed and matching pajamas for each of the grandchildren.  It started back in 2001 with just two grand babies, my beautiful nieces - Taylor and Madison.  In 2002 my nephew Andrew was added.  In 2004 my own son, William and another nephew Jake was added.  In 2005 my son Alexander was added.  In 2007 my son Benjamin was added.  And in 2008, my son Henry and my nephew Dylan were added.  

Matching pajamas for the grandchildren each holiday season.

And the best part?

We capture it with photos every single year.

It's amazing to see how the family has changed over the last 11 years.  It started with 2 little girls and has expanded to 2 girls, 7 boys!

9 grandchildren.

And each year, each grandchild gets BEYOND excited about the gifting of the Holiday Bins.  To see the delight on their faces and my mother's… well, it's priceless.  

The Holiday Bin holds holiday excitement and beauty and memories.  The Holiday Bin symbolizes the importance of family and giving and love and togetherness.  The Holiday Bin is the kick-off to the holidays for my family.  It is… the most special gift of all.

My mother takes out each holiday season framed pictures of the matching pajamas.  The kids love looking back on when they were babies and how little they looked, but still… all the grandkids wearing the same pajamas, all monogramed with their names and the year. 

I plan to continue this tradition with my own family as they get older, and someday…with my very own grandchildren.  It's something that just captures your heart.

Thank you to my mother for starting this so long ago and keeping this going for the last 12 years, you've created so many memories from this beautiful Holiday Bin.