{"id":6091,"date":"2020-12-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crazy4fiction.com\/?p=6091"},"modified":"2021-09-28T20:32:50","modified_gmt":"2021-09-28T20:32:50","slug":"crazy4fiction-christmas-cheer-heidi-chiavarolis-favorite-family-fun-christmas-activities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/crazy4fiction-christmas-cheer-heidi-chiavarolis-favorite-family-fun-christmas-activities\/","title":{"rendered":"Crazy4Fiction Christmas Cheer: Heidi Chiavaroli&#8217;s 5 Favorite Family Fun Christmas Activities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6182\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Copy-of-CTAs-7.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"820\" height=\"312\" \/><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>Award winning novelist Heidi Chiavaroli writes women\u2019s fiction, combining her love of history and literature to write time-slip stories. In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tyndale.com\/p\/the-orchard-house\/9781496434739?utm_source=Heidi%20Chiavaroli%20Christmas%20blog%20post%202020&amp;utm_medium=The%20Orchard%20House&amp;utm_campaign=C4F_Blog\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>The Orchard House<\/em><\/a>, her upcoming new release, family is a central focus of the story. Christmas can be a great time to create new family memories. Heidi shared a list of some of her favorite family Christmas activities. Read what she shared below and see if you have any of these favorite traditions in common.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The beauty of the Christmas season has captivated me since I was a little girl. Now, as an adult with my own family, in some ways it enthralls me even more. The mystery of it all is that the time leading up to Christmas proves just as special as Christmas Day. It\u2019s a season filled with an extra measure of joy and peace, a reminder of a tender babe born to be the Savior of all people. Here are a few fun family activities I enjoy during this season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Scrumptious goodies<\/strong><br \/>To those who know me well, it\u2019s not any surprise I\u2019d start with food! I\u2019m pretty good at eating healthy most of the year, but Christmas is definitely a reason to do a bit of splurging. Some of my favorite treats are chocolate turtles, chocolate peanut butter balls (great for snacking on while decorating the tree!) and Paris puffins, a family favorite that\u2019s part doughnut, part muffin and much enjoyed by all on Christmas morning. Before my in-laws moved South, we participated in the Feast of the Seven Fishes, an Italian-American tradition celebrated Christmas Eve by eating seven different kinds of seafood. From New England clam chowder to seafood casserole and lobster, everything about this special dinner\u2014at least to me\u2014says yum.<\/p>\n<p><strong>2. Family movie night<\/strong><br \/><em>It\u2019s a Wonderful Life<\/em> is my all-time favorite movie, and even my kids love watching this old black-and-white treasure. I also love to visit the 1994 <em>Little Women<\/em> film (the one with Winona Ryder) during this season, reveling in the joys and sorrows and generosity of the March family. Other favorites of our family include <em>Home Alone<\/em>, <em>The Santa Clause<\/em>, H<em>ow the Grinch Stole Christmas<\/em>, <em>A Charlie Brown Christmas<\/em>, and <em>The Muppet Christmas Carol<\/em>. Of course, I\u2019m always up for the occasional Hallmark holiday romance as well!<\/p>\n<p><strong>3. A visit to La Salette<\/strong><br \/>La Salette Shrine is located a few towns over from me and celebrates a festival of lights, adorning their grounds with thousands of lights, a life-size nativity, and beautiful displays commemorating the birth of Christ. There\u2019s something sacred and holy about this place that reminds me what this season is truly about. Our family takes an intentional break from the busyness of life, bundles up, and purchases steaming cups of hot chocolate as we walk the many acres of lights.<\/p>\n<p><strong>4. Surprise gifts<\/strong><br \/>I have always been captivated by the idea of giving generously and anonymously to those in need. While this hasn\u2019t always been possible in the past, it\u2019s super fun to set some money aside and discuss with our kids how we will bless a certain family or individual during the season. Sometimes that\u2019s packing boxes to send overseas. Sometimes it\u2019s an anonymous card and gift given to a member of the community who is struggling; sometimes it\u2019s volunteering at a soup kitchen or shelter; sometimes it\u2019s purchasing a bunch of Subway gift cards and handing them out to those who make their homes on the streets in Boston. I think giving with no strings attached is a perfect way of reminding ourselves and others of the beauty of what Jesus has done for us (during the Christmas season and throughout the year!).<\/p>\n<p><strong>5. Christmas Eve candlelight service<\/strong><br \/>If there is any hour or two that comes close to capturing the weighty majesty of Christmas for me, it\u2019s Christmas Eve service. Again, it\u2019s that sacred holiness. That peace and grace God seems to instill in this service that celebrates the fact that God himself has come down to be with us. Immanuel. Prince of Peace. Lord of lords. King of kings.<\/p>\n<p>God with us.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, what makes all these activities so very special is the people I do them with. Christmas is a perfect time to slow down, to rest in the work that God has done for us, to live in contentment, and express gratitude for those around us.<\/p>\n<p>To all of you beautiful readers out there, merry Christmas!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tyndale.com\/search?keyword=heidi%20chiavaroli&amp;utm_source=Heidi%20Chiavaroli%20Christmas%20blog%20post%202020&amp;utm_medium=Heidi%20Chiavaroli%20novels%20CTA&amp;utm_campaign=C4F_Blog\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-6093 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/11\/Copy-of-CTAs-36.png\" alt=\"Shop historical and contemporary novels by award-winning Christian fiction novelist Heidi Chiavaroli\" width=\"820\" height=\"312\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Award winning novelist Heidi Chiavaroli writes women\u2019s fiction, combining her love of history and literature to write time-slip stories. In The Orchard House, her upcoming new release, family is a central focus of the story. Christmas can be a g...","protected":false},"author":1266,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,216,217,18],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Crazy4Fiction | Crazy4Fiction Christmas Cheer: Heidi Chiavaroli&#039;s 5 Favorite Family Fun Christmas Activities<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/crazy4fiction-christmas-cheer-heidi-chiavarolis-favorite-family-fun-christmas-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crazy4Fiction | Crazy4Fiction Christmas Cheer: Heidi Chiavaroli&#039;s 5 Favorite Family Fun Christmas Activities\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Award winning novelist Heidi Chiavaroli writes women\u2019s fiction, combining her love of history and literature to write time-slip stories. In The Orchard House, her upcoming new release, family is a central focus of the story. Christmas can be a great time to create new family memories. Heidi shared a list of some of her favorite [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/crazy4fiction-christmas-cheer-heidi-chiavarolis-favorite-family-fun-christmas-activities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Crazy4Fiction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-07T08:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-28T20:32:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.tyndale.com\/crazy4fiction\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2020\/12\/Copy-of-CTAs-7.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"#CRAZY4FICTION TEAM\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"#CRAZY4FICTION TEAM\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" 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