Each Christmas day brings a holiday tradition for us. We usually exchange gifts Christmas eve, have a few egg nogs and then get a good night's sleep.

On Christmas day we head up to our favorite mountain ridge in the Boise Mountains, northeast of Idaho City, and cross-country ski to some high spot and have a picnic. It's just my wife and I and the dogs.

We've been doing it for several years now and Christmas day just seems like a good day to unwind from the busy holiday season and take in nature. If for some reason we can't make it to our favorite mountain ridge, we take a hike along the Boise Greenbelt or some other nearby trail.

There's a specialness in nature during the holiday season, whatever holiday you are celebrating.

We at the Idaho Statesman are planning an outdoor holiday traditions story for Dec. 25's Idaho Outdoors Magazine. We'd like you to tell us your outdoor holiday tradition. What do you do to reconnect to the outdoors or nature after the busy holiday season?

We know some folks who try to snag a yurt for the night of the Solstice or Christmas day or News Years Day.

Others ski Bogus Basin. Others like to take the kids sledding, if there's enough snow. Some like to go fishing in the Boise River.

E-mail us your outdoor holiday tradition story and a photo to outdoors@idahostatesman.com in the next two weeks.