Megan’s Big Christmas Wish List Item#6: Coach Signature Perfume
Perfume is such a beautiful thing! It really can brighten spirits and makes a woman feel pretty – I’ve never bought Coach – but every time I go in the store I spray it on me and it just smells so luscious. It makes me happy!
Wrapped Present #6:
Thanks so much for Participating in our FUN Days of Giveaways – Contest Entry Period is now closed and I hope to see you again at AboveRubiesStudio.com for lots more fun in the future! THANKS and Enjoy the Moments! <3 Megan
Yummy little bumpy gift!!! 🙂 Fun for any crafter – you can NEVER have too much of what is packed in here…
Today – I would LOVE to hear about your FAVORITE Family tradition in the comments! If you don’t have any, that’s ok too… just tell me your favorite thing about Christmas 🙂 We do a lot of fun things this time of year – just LOVE it! 🙂 Don’t forget you have to comment to enter to win today’s wrapped gift.
Facebook Winner: Latia Symone Brown
I just randomly got into scrapbooking. On the release of the cricut mini on HSN in November . Lol and I just want to say you have been the most inspiring to me. I watch all your videos. I jut hope I can get the hang of it soon!
Thanks, Latia! I’m so glad that you’ve stumbled into scrapbooking! I think you’re going to LOVE it… and I think you’ll find that this online community will be an AMAZING help to you as you get started 🙂 And just to deliver a little more encouragement, you’ve WON a copy of my Cricut Cards for Any Occasion DVD! Click Here to claim your prize!
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Our family tradition is to build gingerbread houses Christmas eve. We also have breakfast at my mother in laws to reveal secret Santa.
As a little girl my grandmother would give me a new nightgown that she would sew for me. Always on Christmas Eve. When I had children I would give them new pj’s on Christmas eve. Now that I have grand kids we still give pj’s on Christmas eve. One year I didn’t do this and the girls missed it. So I guess they really like
it. Merry Christmas all.
Hi, Megan,
We will be going to Chicago this year so I’ll be cooking the turkey and making dressing. And my famous walnut cranberry sauce. MMMMMMMMM……..
Dianne Bell – Sewpro02@Aol.com
I, too, would receive pajamas for Christmas and always bought new ones for Christmas Eve for my own kids when they were young. I miss that!
Tina
aurathentic@gmail.com
Hi Megan!!! Well in my familiy a Christmas tradition is every year make a gifts surprise for another member of the family, we made a list of all the names, and all the persones pick up one name, and make a gift, and the 24 before dinner you have to make a imitiation of the persone and the others try to know what personne is, is very funny and I enojy a lot make this!!! Big Hugs.. Maggy 🙂
We celebrate Chanuka rather than Xmas, and some of our traditions are to eat latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiot (doughnuts). Though most people eat jelly sufganiot, we have a special recipe that we love for doughnuts filled with chocolate cream. Yum!
We eat foods fried in oil to commemorate the small amount of pure olive oil for the Menora (the holy “candelabra” in the Beis Hamikdash–the holy Temple in Jerusalem) which was able to be salvaged when the holy Temple was rededicated, which miraculously lasted 8 days instead of just one!
Thank you for sharing and reminding us of the many celebrations at this time of year.
We celebrate on Christmas eve, if it’s on a weekend our grandchildren go sleding in our back yard for a while,or make a craft if we don’t have enough snow, or it;s not on the weekend, while we finish up in the kitchen, then we have a lovely family meal. Once the dishes are cleared and put into the dishwasher, our grandchildren get to look for the hidden pickle ornament on the tree. The one that finds the pickle gets to open the first present.
Cute!
My husband’s Mother has always hosted a tree triming party. The house would be decorated, but she invited friends over to trim the tree. The last ornaments to go on the tree were the ornaments that belonged to her deceased brother and sister, which she would put in a place of honor. Unfortunately she passed away this summer and this tradition will not continue. Merry Christmas to all.
We have the pickle ornament too! Our daughters still do it, ages 22 and 20. The 20 year old has never found it first! I keep saying maybe this year she will lol.
We have a few family traditions … but one of my favorites, is the weekend after Thanksgiving all the grandkids (they are only 5 of them), me and my SIL go Christmas shopping with my mother. I just love that the grandkids get to spend that time together making memories 🙂
pruttybird at comcast dot net
My favorite family tradition is actually not a Christmas one, but a Hannukah one. Every year, after lighting the candles on the menorah, my family, which was never religious, had no clue of what to say because we didn’t know the prayers. So one year we just started singing “Happy Hannukah to us!” to the tune of “Happy Birthday to you!” It is now a tradition my husband and I have kept on with our son.
I go to my Parents house,and My Dad and I make Kiflis and I put my hands in the flour and put my hand prints on his BUTT..I love it..37 yrs…..
We always made hot chocolate to drink while we decorated the tree….and on Christmas Day, my homemade rolls.
Family traditions have pretty much gone by the wayside since both my parents are gone. I used to make monkey bread. No one else could make it like I did. Everyone would ask that I would bring it. This year I have made all my Christmas cards. I just hope they all liked them. You really do inspire so many people. I have all your videos. I love paper layers. Thank you Megan Elizabeth
Favorite tradition is cooking in the kitchen Christmas Eve Day with my mom and my kids….and the kids and I pack up and spend the night at her house. We sit around the tree visiting that night, tben get up and ooen presents the next morning before tbe rest of the family arrives. Even though my kids are now 23 & 20, they still look forward to this special time with their Mimi! I wouldn’t trade those special times for anything!!!
All the years of my childhood we woould go to my mom’s parent’s house on Christmas Eve and spend the night waiting for Santa. The special thing about this is that it was ALL my 13 cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents together in a two bedroom one bath house, sharing this special time. We had sleeping bags spread out all over the house and though it may sound unpleasant, it was actually the funnest times of all. After my grandparents passed, we continued doing it as much as we could, taking turns at each of our houses. We still do it, but attendance isn’t 100% like it used to be. Thanks for giving us something to look forward to, really love your posts.
We love to play Lotta, which is Mexican Bingo, anyone can play, but ssome men feel that’s is for the women.
I like to sit back and watch everyone trying to talk over everyone else, Yes we get loud and louder but that’s the fun.
whlr_mryatyahoodotcom
One tradition my husband’s family has always had is his mother’s apple sauce pancakes. She only makes them Christmas morning! No matter where we have lived it was us off to my In-laws house bright and early. I have been in the family for 25 years now and the only difference there is is that my In-laws live 8 doors down and on Christmas morning you will see my Husband, Daughter, Son, Daughter-in-law, Sister, her bow, myself and now our brand new granddaughter walking down the street in our jammies, slippers and our hair all a mess to Grandma Judy’s for Apple Sauce Pancake we only get once a year!!!
Our Christmas family tradition starts when we pick out our Christmas tree. It’s a family group effort and we take video & lots of pictures. We then play Christmas music as we are decorating the tree and the rest of the house. Then we decide what kind of cookies we are going to make. The aromas that are in our house this time of year are decadent. Tis the season.
Happy Holidays!
We would ride around town on Christmas eve looking at Christmas lights then home to open one package, PJ”S, It was so much fun and peaceful listening to the ahh’s how pretty.
we always put the tree up together and the youngest one puts the star on the tree. Since we live my with my parants my daughter is the one who puts the star on the tree. My dad lifts her up onto his shoulders. When we were yoounger my dad did this with my youngest brother. we were video taping it at the time and when he went to put my brother back on the grown his pj bottoms got stuff and all you could see was his bum!!! We sent the video into Funniest Home Videos and won a shopping spree!! O the good old days lol. Thanks for the chance to win!!
We have a tradition going back to my childhood which i have passed on to my children. My parents gave us pork pie and a slice of bread and butter for breakfast before we could open our presents, but being children we couldn’t wait, and rushed it down us. Now my children have grown up I still say they have to eat it, and it’s been a long lasting joke for us all, we laugh about it every year now, but it still bring’s all those fun memories back for me when I was a child.
I love to bake and usually make about 12 different types of cookies. I spend one day mixing all of the cookie doughs and refrigerating them. Then with a clean kitchen the next day I begin the baking. My husband doesn’t like that first day because he can see all of the progress yet there are no cookies for him to taste. I then package them for neighbors and friends and give most of them away. It’s my holiday gift and I love doing it!
On Christmas Eve all of our kid and grandkids with some of their frineds come for supper and open presents. After opening presents we play bingo. The grandkids our older now but every year that is what they want to do. Now we have a great great grand daughter. She will be 10 months old.
Having a December birthday is sometimes a bummer as it gets wrapped into the Christmas rush. My Birthday is in December. What is NOT a bummer is that my holiday (tied into birthday) tradition each year is to have my kids and 5 grandkids come each year to decorate the house and put up the tree. I have a granddaughter who’s birthday also falls in, on December, 21st. ALWAYS make sure your December birthday gifts ARE NOT in Christmas Paper!! lol!!
We celebrate with family on Christmas Eve. I look forward to it every year. We have a huge gathering, wonderful food and hugs all around!
We make sticky buns on Christmas morning before opening gifts.
Our family tradition was that each person had a turn at opening a gift…so that everyone could enjoy the expression on the face as the gift was opened. Thus, making opening Christmas presents last longer and easier to get a picture of the gift and receipent.
We really don’t have any Christmas traditions but one of my favorite things to do is to make gifts for my girls teachers. Having so many between the two of them, we usually make something at home instead of buying and try to come up with some unique way to wrap each gift to go along with each teachers personality.
My sister and her family and mine were never able to get together ( just the cousins) do to different schedules with each others in laws, so we started having our own Christmas. We call it our gingerbread Christmas. Each family decorates their own house, now as the kids are older it’s becoming a compition ! But I still think they eat more candy then what’s on the houses. It’s always fun and relaxed.
When the kids were little, all three would sleep under the tree on Christmas Eve.
Our annual Christmas Eve Seafood Dinner. With all of my husbands siblings and their families. We have 12 children between us and now 7 grands. It is a lot of work and a lot of fun. Then after dinner the children open presents. Lots of love and laughter.
We celebrate Christmas Eve with the family. We always have a buffet.
I like everything about Christmas, the familyh gatherings, music and decorations.
I started a new tradition this year .I had my Dh go to Belk and buy polos for everyone .They all come home on Christmas Eve so They will open and put on the new Shirts for a Christmas photo .
Hmmmm…we have a few traditions. The one the entire family loves is going out to find the best holiday light display…and the most tackiest but fun!
Favorite Christmas tradition is making cookies with my family. When I was little it was my grandmother, mom and I. In college, my girlfriends would comer over for margaritas and cookies.
Our favorite tradition is having Tea Ring and coffee or hot chocolate in the morning in the anticipation of opening the gifts from Santa. We would talk about what we thought Santa had brought…kids were so excited…miss those days for sure.
We hide a tiny glass pickle ornament in the tree. All the kids have to search and the first one to find it wins $5.
My husband and I began our own Christmas tradition of remembering the true meaning of Christmas. On Christmas morning, before opening gifts, we have a birthday party for Jesus. We sing Happy Birthday and eat birthday cake for breakfast (which my husband makes the day before!). The kids have always loved it and know they have to wait (and don’t mind!) because Jesus comes first.
We always get together at our house on Christmas Eve for snacks and games. This year my daughter suggested to her husband that they “host” it at their house this year, but she said a funny look just came over his face and he said that he kind of liked coming over to our house! Nice to know that the “tradition” has carried on to our newest son-in-law :-)!! (Note… they’d been dating, and thus celebrating with us, for 8 years previously!)
Because we always have our Christmas Dinner at noon I started making a special batch of muffins to eat on Christmas morning instead of a big breakfast. A couple of years ago I decided that since it is now just hubby and I now at home that I wouldn’t make them. Well, when the family arrived later in the morning they were so upset because there were no muffins. It just wasn’t Christmas without them! I still make a batch every year.
our favorite family tradition was to go to the tree farm where they had a sleigh ride out to the trees where they drop you off, you search the field for that perfect tree, and a sleigh ride back to your car. After the tree cutting we would then go to the Tim hortons for a cup of hot chocolate and home to trim the tree.
I have not traditions right now, my mother in law makes sure of that. Maybe we can start one!!!
In my family growing up we would go Christmas caroling on Christmas Eve, just our family and maybe a few invited neighbors, sort of a singing Christmas card. If we didn’t show up on time, we would get phone calls asking if we were OK. One of my sisters lives in the house of one of our regular stops. Sometimes it is hard to walk in instead of standing on the porch singing during the holidays.
My favorite part of Christmas now is our church’s quiet candlelight Christmas Eve service
I make homemade cocoa (NOT hot chocolate-and many of you know what I mean) for our big Christmas breakfast.
Our family tradition is making a selection of cookies, the kids love our baking days.
I’m really not trying to double my chances . . .
This week has been so much fun-hearing your wishes, reading the posts, and being excited for the gift winners. I think women are unique in that they are truly excited when a fellow peep wins a prize, even if they didn’t win one. I hope you and the fam take some time to rest after the big wedding.
Love putting up the Christmas tree with my kids and love picking out a new box of ornaments each year
Our favorite tradition is to bake cookies the week before Christmas along with our favorite candy recipes and give them as gifts to our friends, postlady, and neighbors. The family really enjoy doing this every year.
My favorite current tradition is my adult daughter coming over to make gifts for co-workers together!
Our favorite family tradition is our Jesse Tree. Each year throughout Advent we read through the Bible from Genesis to Luke to remind us why we have Christmas. We don’t read the whole book, but focus on stories that highlight creation, fall, redemption and restoration. A couple of years ago I designed ornaments to represent each story out of shrinky-dink material and the kids hang one each night on our little tree. We have a lot of fun with it, and it keeps our minds focused on what Christmas is truly about.
We don’t really have any traditions. I love when my 2 local radio stations (B 101 & 99.5 WJBR) start playing Christmas Music in November!
Our tradition has been to have Christmas with our children and then go to mom and dads and unwrap gifts and eat standing rib roast and all the sides and then after my dad passed we started going to one of my brothers, the one with the biggest house for gifts and standing rib roast, and next year the tradition will change as families have grown. The big “kids” will get together with mom for a dinner and on Christmas we will spend with our own little families. Well actually that will happen for us this year as I work Christmas Day. My son and his wife, mom, DH and I will have Christmas Eve dinner and unwrap gifts. I have decided to make Cornish Game Hens for our dinner.
When we started our family, we started the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve after Christmas Ever services. That gift is new Christmas PJ’s! Merry Christmas!
I also give jammies on Christmas eve. I will sew them the week before Christmas, then wrap them and put them under the tree. The kids would always beg to open one present before going to bed on Christmas Eve. I would agree and let them open the jammie box. It took them years to realize that I was letting them open the jammie boxes and none of the others that found their way under the tree before Santa came.
I love when my whole family gets together on Christmas eve it’s one of the few times everyone is together
Favorite family tradition-when the kids get to open their Christmas eve pjs and then sit and listen to my hubby read “A Visit from St. Nicholas”
For our family the tradition is in the food. When we gather together we have appetizers because my children eat their big meal at their in-law’s homes. Included are my mother’s recipe for gourton baked into a pie or used as a spread for crackers, and her peanutbutter fudge. Their gifts include these items to take home and enjoy. It’s a way to include my Mom even though she is no longer with us. Somehow it just doesn’t feel right without those foods.
Our favorite tradition when the boys were young, was to trim the tree. I always kept all the handmade ornaments that they made, and they would love to unwrap them and put them on the tree. It was like tiny pre-Christmas presents. They are all grown up now but, they still love unwrapping their ornaments. They also love that we kept their little bundles of love for all of these years.
One of traditions that we started was on the first day of Dec. We put up and advent calander then everyday a santas elf came to check on the boys and if they were good he left them a present.It was easy when they were little coloring books, crayons.ect. Then when the boys got older and I tried to stop they threw a fit
so we atill put things in for them although a lot more expensive now. I have also started this with my niece and nephew who are 2 and 3. They love the idea of getting a present every day for being good.
We didn’t have many traditions growing up bit I do plan on starting several with my daughter as she grows up! My favorite part about Christmas is seeing the kids get excited on Christmas morning!
The thing i love most about christmas is lots of family time. my family does not live close so it is special just to get to spend time together.
Our family tradition is to have brunch at my sister’s house. Getting a lot bigger now that children are married and have families but her house is still big enough. Great time!
Our favorite Christmas tradition is that all the kids come for Christmas eve. After we eat and open our presents we listen on the radio to see where Santa is at. It is local so he is usually flying close by.
My husbands favorite Christmas movie is “Its a Wonderful life”. My favorite is “A Christmas Story”. Every year our tradition is to watch both movies with our kids. We sit around and eat goodies and drink hot coco with marshmellows….. Love it!
We pick-out our cut tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving, with as many of the kids that are home, at the time. This year, we have the biggest tree ever…gorgeous! We have to watch a Christmas movie while decorating, and of couse, sipping hot cocoa. Christmas morning, we always have Sausage Balls! Yum! Looking forward to creating more traditions when we start having grandchildren…Life is all about the memories, make each day special. 🙂
We have 2 traditions. No one seems to remember the first, but every Christmas my siblings, our families, and I would gather at Mom’s house for “Mom’s Christmas Party”. She lived in a very tiny house, and sometimes 34 of us would be at this party. She looked forward to it every year. This will be our 4th Christmas without her, but my brother, sisters, and I will continue “Mom’s Christmas Party” (and we still call it that) for as long as we all are here.
Our second tradition is Christmas dinner with our children and their families. We wait until everyone can be here, so we may do this dinner a day or two after Christmas. I make a crown roast and a turkey breast. I made it for dinner the first time about 14 years ago, and my husband, son, and son-in-law all determined then that “this has to be our newest Christmas tradition”.
Megan, thank you for all you do. Merry CHRISTmas!
Christmas is a very big deal in my house and even though the children have grown and gone they still look for the traditions of the season. We start with day after Thanksgiving shopping! My daughter and I still go out at 4 or 5 in the morning and spend the day together in the crowds! Then comes the decorating and the baking. I also have a group of friends that get together for a Sunday afternoon of homemade soup, cookies and card making!
I love this season. Everyone seems kinder, more thoughtful and more giving. It would be a VERY good thing if it lasted always. I often wonder why it doesn’t. Maybe if we all left one decoration out all year, it would remind us. What do you think?
My, very talented, Mom designed and made her four children’s Christmas socks. I then did the same for my two and then our daughter did the same for her three daughters and her hubby. When decorating for the holiday it is very heart warming to have six all the same but uniquely different socks hanging waiting for santa to fill. Merry Christmas!
My family tradition is Chanukah. My mom always made latkes (potato pancakes) by scratch. That is literally, by scratch. She would grate the potatoes and every time, she would get scraped fingers. It became part of the holiday! One year, she decided to buy a package of latke mix. They didn’t come out right. The same thing happened with Matzoh Ball Soup. One year she tried a prepackaged Matzoh Ball mix and something went wrong with the meal. It was a family decision that if someone doesn’t get a scratch or cut, then the dinner would be ruined. We all have to make our sacrifices.
Many years ago I was talking with my dear parents (who have now been married 66 years) and found out neither one of them had ever had a Christmas stocking. I decided right then that they would have a stocking every Christmas morning. I now sneak into their home when I know they are gone. Try to do it as close to Christmas as I can. they each have their own hand-made stocking and it is always filled with gifts and goodies. Its the least I can do for all the ways that they have always made Christmas special for us. We will be fortunate enough to have the whole family home (here in Indiana) and will be able to spend Christmas with them. We will have family from as far away as Alaska making the trip. Special memories will definitely be made.
Our family tradition is to go look at Christmas lights and drink ice cream shakes while we do it. It seems like Santa always comes to visit while we are gone!
I started to think about this and realized that we do several things each year at Christmas that I would have never called “traditions,” but they are! We put up the tree each year the weekend after Thanksgiving, and then everyone hangs their ornaments they have collected over the many years while we play Christmas music for the first time. I love to hear the girls talk about each one they hang. SO many memories! Thank you again Megan!
Our favorite family tradition is putting the tree up together.
Growing up my brother and I could not go down stairs to see if Santa came until we heard the bird ornament chirping. We would wait at the top of the stairs carefully listening for the ever so wanted “CHIRP, CHIRPPPP, CHIRP”.
My favorite Christmas tradition is one I do on my own, actually. When my youngest was around 3, he started showing me different ornaments that he wanted on the tree. Most were like what I call “non traditional” ornaments. Superheros, cars, etc. I decided to buy him a special ornament every year, for his first tree away from home. (We have not used these ornaments). I write on the box what year I bought and why I chose that ornament that year for him. The year that his brother was born, I started that same tradition. I wrote on the tote that I store them in a note for the intentions in case something happens to me before me giving it to them. I cannot wait to see their tree with these ornaments on them.
My sister started noticing me buying ornaments and not using them, she has started this with her grandchildren now.
Hi Megan,
My favorite past holiday tradition was watching Christmas Vacation (the movie) on Thanksgiving Day. The whole famil ywas then in the Christmas mode. Now since the boys have gotten married and are not always with us for the holiday my new favorite tradation is driving with my fabulous husband and looking at Christmas lights on Christmas eve.
God Bless
Debbie
Our Christmas tradition is to open 1 gift Christmas Eve & that is our Christmas pj’s
Thanks for the chance to win
My favorite tradition is that we still celebrate with my grandma, aunts, uncles &.cousins including their kids. One BIG Christmas!
Danischuelke at yahoo dot com
Each year all of us (and they are a lot of us) go back home to our parents house for a 10:00 am brunch. I can’t remember a year that one of us hasn’t made it. It’s the only time each year that we are ALL together.
My favorite thing about Christmas is the music.
One tradition we have is decorating the tree and house together while christmas music is blaring through the house.
I would buy new red and white pj’s for my kids for Christmas Eve. Now that they are 18 and 21 I thought I wouldn’t be doing it anymore – – – boy was I wrong. My daughter at 21 is counting on new pj’s for Christmas Eve – it is the one thing I can’t change about Christmas
Our Christmas tradition is my husband takes each of our girls out Christmas shopping, one at a time, and then out to dinner. My dad did that with me and my siblings when we were little. I loved the quality time with my dad and hope my girls will feel the same way when they get older.
We celebrate for several days. Starting with our church holiday program – it has become a tradition that I write a poem based on the Twas the night before Christmas but about the crazy events (made up) that happen leading up to our program. This year the ladies of the church were trying to track down St. Nick – the poem got a lot of laughs. I try to include as many members as possible. Then right before christmas we spend christmas eve at my brother’s open house, christmas dinner at our house where we break open the christmas crackers, wear silly paper hats and tell even sillier jokes. We always have christmas pud as part of all the desserts. Then boxing day at Mum’s. Phew it’s a busy time but great fun. Then we relax between boxing day and new year’s
At our house everyone decorates the tree , I make hot chocolate for everyone and we listen to xmas music while decorating the tree Then xmas eve is always appetizers all day into the night . The big dinner is xmas day
Laurie
BABBYME2@AOL.COM
Every Christmas Eve we eat beef stroganoff and then go to church and then go back and open our secret Santa gifts. Thanks for a chance to win.
On Christmas Eve we read the Story of Jesus in a Manager and then take turns picking Christmas songs to sing. We would then each get to open on present.
Our favorite Christmas thing is to go to church on Christmas Eve and then come home and have a really nice meal — standing rib roast, steamed shrimp, lobster, or something like that. I cook a piece of ham and a turkey breast the day before Christmas and we just “graze” all day on Christmas. That way…I can enjoy the day along with everyone else instead of being stuck in the kitchen.
My Mom had always made the entire family ornaments for Christmas. We have a very large family. She was one of eight and their were 33 grandchildren. She made a lot of ornaments. Everyone couldn’t wait for those ornaments. Megan, you would have loved her, she was so super savvy. Alot of the techniques out today are recycled from years ago. I can see something and think, my Mom did something like that years ago. Well now my Mom has passed and my sister and I carry on the tradition with our families and grandchildren. I kept alot of her crafts and try to incorporate something of hers in every ornament. When I put up our tree, the memories flood with my happy tears. I really feel like our tree tells Mom’s story. She loved Chirstmas so much.
We go out to get our tree together and the whole family participates in the decorating and baking before we gather as a group.
As our children have grown up and moved away sadly the traditions have too. I have enjoyed reading about all the others, interesting ways to celebrate.
Our tradition is to hide “Herbie”–the Elf on the Shelf!! So much fun and now my Grandaughters like to wake up to the hunt for Herbie every morning!!
Every Christmas we eve we go to my sisters and have dinner and open gifts. we all bring something and have such a good time enjoying each other and watching the little one open their gifts and see the joy, happiness and excitement in them. What a wonderful time it is to spend with family.
We have lots of family traditions … one of them is to open ONE gift before we go to bed on Christmas Eve. We even did this when my daughter was younger (still believing in Santa), as we bought her a few gifts that weren’t “Santa” gifts. We still carry on this tradition no matter where we are (at my parents or here at home), and she’s 25 years old now.
On a side note about the Coach perfume ….. I’ve never smelled it, as my husband has such a sensitive nose that I don’t get to wear perfumes. ;( Oh, well ….. I hope Sean …. ummm, I mean Santa, drops a little bottle under the tree for you, Megan.
The nearest thing I have to a Tradtion,is my daughter (34) and son(27) still come round on Christmas Eve to open one present each…
Christmas eve we play games and have a themed dinner – last year we had mexican, this year maybe chinese!
Making crafts with my granddaughters is quickly becoming a tradition in our house–they are 4 and 6.
The only tradition we have is to keep it untraditional! Some times we go to grandmas and grandpas, sometimes we go to nana and pa’s, somtimes we stay some. This year we’re making cookie plates and sending a box of goodies to my nephew in Afghanastan. Some years we break out the big tree, other times we barely get any decorations out. This is my oldest baby’s last year “at home.” So next year will be some thing completely different again!
each stage in our boys ages/growth has brought different traditions. This post would be too lengthy to list all the fun traditions we’ve done thru the years. This will be our first Christmas when none of them will be able to make it here so dh & I will need to begin some new traditions.
Because we now live in Florida, there are many years we do not have family for the holidays, but we also have neighbors in the same situation. So my hubby and I started to invite them over for Christmas eve dinner. My hubby makes lasagna and the others bring a dish and we share a “family” dinner together. On Christmas day, if we have company or not, we all go to the beach and take a picture. Sometimes it is just the 3 of us, other years it has been 8-10, but it has become a tradition of sorts for us. This year, our photo will include our daughter who will be with us for the first Christmas since she moved back north 3 years ago. I am counting the days until she arrives on Dec.20 (the day before my birthday!!!!), it is the only present I truly want this year.
My favorite family tradition is making reindeer hand print ornaments with the kids. We put them on every year and see how they have grown.
I love making Christmas cookies with my mom. We did it this weekend and made over 900!! It was so much fun.
Starting on the first of December the whole family would gather at a family members house to decorate and put up the tree. It was so much fun and we had a week of parties.
We choose not to celebrate Christmas for religious and biblical reasons but we do make a very big dealof Thanksgiving. Our tradition on the special holiday is we exchange names and buy each other a gift. We spend the week at the lake and give our gifts on Thanksgiving after our meal. We have to tell why we are thankful for the person whose name we got and what makes that person special. This was a tradition started by my hubbys parents and has carried over into our family.
I look forward to being with family. We have a silly white elephant exchange on one side & play bingo with small prizes on the other. Lots of good food & laughter are also involved:)
When my son was 2 1/2 we started doing the Christmas eve scavenger hunt for him. He would find little presents to get him ready for night night on this anticipated evening. A new set of PJ’s, a new set of fun tub soaps, toothbrush, book, a movie and a new pillow case to rest his little head. When my niece was old enough to join we did the same thing. The hunt also included baking and decorating the cookie for Santa… Last year we went to my husbands family’s for Christmas in Ohio and got our little nephew doing in as well. It’s so much fun and by the time my son is done with everything he’s pooped out and ready for bed without a fight.
Thanks for this opportunity Megan!
Wanda
Christmas Tree up the weekend following Thanksgiving. Baking cookies and making candies to give a gifts to co-workers and neighbors. Christmas Eve Children’s Mass with my in-laws. Christmas dinner with my parents.
My current family tradition is gathering our 7 grandchildren in a circle on the floor (ages 10 down to 5 wks), and reading a story to them (pick out a different one each year) about the Christ Child’s birth. Then it’s on to the fun of watching them open their presents.
We still put up my great grandma’s aluminum tree in the front window.
My favorite family tradition has to be our gift swap. We do a “white elephant” type of swap, and now, because all the “kids” are 21+, we have to have 2 separate swaps. There are so many of us that it’s just absolute chaos, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
My favorite tradition is that on Christmas Eve we get together with family and read the story of Christ birth an all of the little kids get dressed up and act it out.
Mysterious gift package. hmmm We started a new tradition this weekend. My mom died this year, so to keep things from being too weird, we all got together yesterday, the 10th, and had lots of dips, hot wings, boudain balls etc. instead of a big sit down dinner. All the young kids got to open gifts from each other and we really got to visit. It was really nice to change things and we all enjoyed it.
Growing up one of my favorite traditions was the stockings. My mother worked the late shift at the hospital so we needed to let her grab a little shut eye before the Christmas morning festivities began. Hard to do with 5 children in the house! Santa would leave our stockings outside our bedroom doors. I being the oldest would get the pleasure of all my siblings bringing their stockings and jumping into my bed. Funny how I dreaded this as a teen and now it is one of my fondest memories. We could open our stockings, we always received PJ’s which we would put on, life saver books, a tangerine (which we ate waiting to do the tree). Something in each stocking that was special to each us. After some time we would send the youngest down the hall to listen at our parent’s door. Then to see if he could get a peek at the tree! He would report back which would end our silence and the festivities would begin!
My favorite tradition is our annual Christmas morning breakfast! It is always full of yummy treats!
My favorite Christmas tradition is every evening before bed the month of December we all sit on the couch together and read some sort of Christmas story—Rudolph, Frosty, The Christmas Sweater, The Christmas box,—you get the idea. Anyway, then we sing 8-10 Christmas carols. All 3 of my kids do this and have through college! This year we are one person short, since my oldest just got married this past summer, but my 20 year old and 12 year old, along with my hubby, still do it every night. It is such lovely family time. 😀 Also, we ALWAYS read the Christmas story and have prayer before we open ANY gifts on Christmas morning. So nice! At our house, Christmas is about family!!! 😀
My husbands entire family comes to our house for Christmas dinner each year, and my family and my best friends family get together and eat homemade chili and cinnamon rolls and play games each year, tonights the night for that can’t wait!
My favorite Christmas tradition happens when St. Nick visits our house. I love seeing what is in my stocking. It always consists of an apple, an orange, candy canes, chocolate of some sort, and nuts, but sometimes, if we were really good, we get a small gift in there, too! The reason I love it is because we all trade things with each other to get what we want. I always trade my orange for another apple because apples are my favorite and I trade my candy canes for some more nuts.
Our family tradition is to sing Christmas carols on Christmas eve before we open presents.
I miss that we used to have a huge Christmas Eve party, all sorts of family and friends would show up. Now that our kids are all married and have kids of their own and all our friends and family are in the same boat we are trying to start a Christmas Eve day party and everyone can leave when they need to get on with all their own family traditions.
One of our family traditions is to give Jesus a birthday present. When we worked in Africa I bought tiny match boxes and wrapped the outside, but left the slide out “drawer” free. We each write on a slip of paper what we will give Jesus that year, place it in our individual matchbox and put it on the tree. Of course, when the boys were little we helped them, but as they grew older, they wrote their own. Our first present was to sweep the church. We used African style grass brooms. I’ve saved a lot of those slips and one day they will go in a scrapbook:)
My favorite tradition is getting together, eating too much, taking a lot, taking photos and just having my family underfoot.
We have a few traditions that I love: One we always decorate the tree together as a family, and having the little ones to help ( ie: run around with the beads around their body until we can catch them! ) it is just all the more fun. I also make Christmas cookies every year, and my son loves to help me, so he is counting down the days until we do it! Also, “Santa” comes to my Aunt’s house for Christmas Eve to give each girl and boy a small present for what is to come tomorrow and that is the best, their little faces are always so much fun to see! Thank you again!
Lisa
Our Family Tradition is to have cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas!
Everyone comes to our house sometime on Christmas Day. We just eat buffet style so that there’s not much work for anyone and we can just enjoy each other’s company.
When my parents were living, they would always be at our house for Thanksgiving. After dinner and cleaning up, my dad would always help me get the red tablecloth onto the table with the crocheted lace table overlay ~ it was definitely a two-person job! That was always the first Christmas decoration of the holiday season to go up! He passed away 12 Christmases ago, and I so missed doing that with him. Funny how something so small can be so significant, huh?
We don’t really have a family tradition, but my favorite things about Christmas is all the beautiful decorations and all the Christmas songs.
I love the whole holiday season! However, one of our great traditions happens on Christmas Eve. All of the grandparents come ever (and some aunts and uncles) and we all go to church to celebrate. After the service we all come back to my house for a good dinner and some great family time!!!
Walking around the neighborhoods and admiring the lights, can I admit to peeking in windows (from the sidewalk.. we are not complete stalkers…) and checking out the indoor trees. voting on the nicest and the tackiest decorations.
Probably the family tradition for me is the big family get together Christmas Eve. When growing up my Mom’s side of the family would all come to our house for night of fun, family fellowship. I feel I carried on that tradition when I got married that we spend Christmas Eve with my family. Thanks for a chance to win!
One of our family traditions in spending Christmas Eve morning with my best friend’s family. ( we have been friends since 4th grade!!!) It is a really nice way to start Christmas with our families together having brunch and lots of fun!!!!
My favourite is going to church on Christmas Eve as a family, followed by driving around looking at Christmas lights, then going home to get in our pajamas and open presents. After that, we always snack on Christmas treats and play board games together. So fun!
I’ve enjoyed reading some of the responses and wonderful traditions. We had many while I was growing up and when the kid were little. Now I’m at my grandchildren’s house for Christmas Eve and Christmas day. They always open one present on Christmas Eve after church. It is always new pajamas. Their dad reads The Night Before Christmas. The kids are now 14, 12, and 10 and still love it. Not sure the 14 year old agreed on the pictures with Santa this year. She said she wouldn’t do it last year when she started high school but gave in.
A Happy Birthday Jesus cake for my grandchildren. They love it!
Our favorite holiday tradition is waking fairly early, going to our grown kids home and spending the day laughing and having fun. They live quite close and we all pitch in and help. In the afternoon we will usually go to the movies. Then we hurry back for dinner. This year Chanukah coincides with Christmas so latkes, sour cream, applesauce and jam will be on the menu. When it doesn’t, we usually get together twice. We have always spent Christmas day together even then. We feel a free day from work should always be celebrated with family. Hope your holidays are spectacular.
My husband and I riding around to see the decorated and lighted homes. I love to see all the holiday displays people do with their homes and yards.
My favorite family tradition is to get a new Christmas ornament each year, depicting something that was important in our family. For instance, the year our daughter was 6, and truly learned to read, we got a little Hallmark book ornament. The year we all took scuba diving lessons, we remembered it with a little diver with a snorkel attached. Each ornament has the year on it, so we won’t forget. We have more than 30 “special” ornaments on our tree. Our daughter is now 28, married, and has a child of her own. I hope that she begins her own family traditions, starting with this year…because traditions are what can be passed down through the generations, and are like the spider webs of life..
We start off our Christmas Eve day with my family. We will make wonderful meal for lunch, open gifts after, then head to my husbands side of the family. Christmas Day is at our house, I have appitizers, kids go sleding, we all bring a $30 gift and shake dice. This Year we are adding the ugly chirstmas sweater.
The most important thing to me is spending it with family.
We share and celebrate mixed traditions because of our mixed marriage. We celebrate and enjoy the different holidays at our extended families. In our own home, we raised the children Jewish, therefore we only celebrate Channukah in our house.
My favorite thing each year is to simply go ride around and see as many lights that I can
Our favorite tradition is to go see The Trans-Siberian Orchestra. We have been going to their concerts since our daughter was 4. We watch their DVD every Christmas after dinner. We moved two years ago away from our family but have made new friends and it has now become a tradition that we go with them every year. We just bought tickets last night to go this year. We feel blessed to be able to share this tradition and start a new one.
Years ago, during a long menopausal sleepless night (Ha) I came up with the brainstorm to sew and send Christmas themed pillowcases for all family members among seven states to unite us through the Chrismastime. YUP, CRAZZZY! So (or sew) I quickly created 31 pillowcases and sent them off with a message to use them during the holiday season as a big HUG to one another each night. Pictures of family units with their covered pillows in hand were requested in return! Kind of like a gift of the spirit from our home to yours. The TRADITION has carried on as new pillowcases have been created and sent on to new family members through marriage and births. A lifetime of love, simply made.
We all gather around and roll buckeye balls (cookie/candy) together.
My favorite tradition at Christmas with my family: Every Christmas, the whole family gets together to open presents and have dinner together. In order to open presents, everyone must wear some kind of Santa hat. We have so many types, reindeer, Christmas tree’s, Bah Humbug, and Elf hats! We all wear hats and take family photos. I love the way our pictures turn out each year! Everyone seems to have a good time and act silly!
Our family is Huge, and our Chirstmas tradition was having Christmas Eve at my Parents house! There was so much food. My grandmother would make tons of fish and seafood dishes. And the gathering was aweseome. My mother kepted that going even after her mother passed, now this will be the first Christmas that my daughter will try to make Christmas Eve as memborable as the ones before! I hope that this tradition will live long after me.
Our family tradition is to gather at our parents home (all 6 of us with their respective spouses, chldren, grandchildren, etc) for a Christmas meal. Then we gather around the Christmas Tree and wait for Santa to come for a visit. Every year, the “newbie” guy in the family (that is over 18) is tasked to wear the Santa Suit and Beard…Toting a large red velvet bag he arrives to the squeals of delight of 25 (plus or minus) children and begins calling out names and handing out small token gifts, promising the “real” gifts are going to be under their own tree at their houses. Then waving goodbye, he leaves to the silence of awed yound kids, eye wide with wonder and excitement…Hands down, Best Time of the Night!
I can’t say we have a tradition but I would love to start one or two. Maybe I will get a few good ideas by reading others.
My favorite thing about Christmas is being together with family! They mean so much especially since both of my parents passed away 4 months ago. It is going to be a tough year!
We start on christmas ave the whole family get togetthere my eight kids and their wives and husbands and all my 19 grand kids we have our christmas meal christmas ave and we party all nite not the kids they go to bed about eleven we all wear crazy looking pjs and toe socks we play games and some of us finish any last minute wrapping and at about 6 oclock am christmas day we get pots and pans and start banging them togetthere to wake the kids up to open presents we make breakfast while the kids play we take lots of pics. then every body gets ready to go home or where ever the need to be and some stay longer and we relax and watch movies or nap while the kids that stay longer play.It’s a wonderful time I love it I really don’t sleep until every body leaves I love to be with my kids and grand kids I thank god for them every day.I don’t have a big house people sleep on the floor in the tub there are people every where some even bring their friends we have a great time.
It was nice to read all the family traditions…….we like to ride around and look at the pretty lights and just spend time together….
Hopefully, I can find some almond bark this year. I am starting a new tradition. This will be the third year for getting the grandchildren over and dipping pretzels in chocolate. So easy and so fun!
I’ve not been able to participate much in these, but I have enjoyed reading the responses.
Our Christmas tradition is reading about the birth of Jesus before we open gifts. I have not taught our children to believe in Santa. Dont get me wrong, we are not anti-Santa, but I have never felt the need to have them to believe in something thats not. I was taught to believe in Santa & I was always very disappointed when Santa brought my friends the exact things they asked for I never got what I asked for.
Anyway…
We have our Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve (this is just for our household), then around 2 or 3 that afternoon, we open gifts. That gives the children time to ‘play’ with their stuff b4 any of the other family members comes filtering through. That way, by the time everyone has came to exchange gifts, the children have been able to play with their new toys & wore out & ready to go to bed around midnight (hopes for b4, lol).
On Christmas Day, we go to my Moms for dinner & gifts. Christmas night we load up & go to Bristol Motor Speedway to drive through to see the lights. BMS decorates the raceway with lights & gives the proceeds to our local childrens charities. They have done this for years now. In the middle of pitrow, they have a few rides & games & food vendors for you to enjoy. They also have what they call Chill Hill, which is a long slide off the side of a hill & an ice skating rink.
I also make a new handmade ornament every year. Try 1 new cookie or candy recipe & 1 new food recipe each year.
This year I started a new tradition & we picked 2 angels off the angel tree.
This year, after Christmas, we are going to Pigeon Forge to bring in the New Year in a cabin.
I pray everyone has a great Christmas! Please remember those less fortunate than we are & our miltary men & women & their families in prayer & thoughts.
we have a couple of traditions. My most favorite is going to cut down the Christmas tree. Another favorite is getting together with my sister and her girls, my aunt, my mom and my granmother to bake christmas sugar cookies and then we all get to decorate them.
Our family traditions are changing to new traditions. The one thing that never changes is the guitars and singing. So much fun!
I too Love me some Coach perfume, but have not bought any yet. Our Family tradition is getting everyone in the car and going around the neighborhood and places to see all the Christmas lights. We drive all over and usually takes about 3-4hrs. It’s like a mini family road trip in your own back yard. Smooches…
I think my favorite tradition is putting up the tree Thanksgiving weekend.
We don’t have any family close by, but we want our kids (6 and 10 now) to have as much family time with us as possible before they are gone. They grow so fast! When are oldest was born we decided to continue a tradition my family had to drive around and look at Christmas lights. Every Christmas Eve we have a traditional Italian dinner, put on our pajamas and then drive around and look at Christmas lights. It’s a great way to start calming the kids down for bed. When we get home, my husband reads “Twas the Night Before Christmas” and then the kids are off to bed. One year we had 3 feet of snow (which is not normal in the Seattle area) and couldn’t go. The boys were so disappointed! My 10 year old really looks forward to our family traditions, and this one is a favorite!
i love baking cookies at christmas time.
My favorite Christmas tradition is giving a new ornament to the kids each year. My parents did this for my sister and I and when we moved out we had many ornaments with special memories attached. I have a pair of mittens that were traced from my hands onto construction paper and linked together with yarn from when I was in preschool that I put on our tree. It amuses my kids that my hands were ever that small! Thanks for the chance!
I love shopping for others….it makes me happy 🙂
On Christmas Eve, we eat a great dinner at home, drive around looking at Christmas lights, then attend Midnight Mass at our church. Perfect way to start the day!
Our family tradition is Christmas Eve dinner at my sisters with the entire famiy.. Then opening our exchange presents afterwards, then midnight mass… We have done thisw since we were all married with families of our won.. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Our family tradition is to make Christmas cookies for Santa on December 23. The kids help cut out the shapes and decorate the cookie. We have so much fun that we are going to decorate a gingerbread house this year. My boys are 3 and 6 so we keep adding traditions each year.
My favorite Christmas tradition is that my parents, siblings, nieces, nephews, etc. who can make it get together on Christmas Eve for dinner and to play cards, table tennis, and other games — and we also take family pictures of each family. Love getting each family’s photo every year. Thanks for the chance to win.
One of our family traditions that has been handed down was to have the main gift (bike, doll, etc.) hidden. You had to find it by following the string with your name attached from the tree to where it was hidden. It was always a lot of fun looking for the gift and wondering what it could be.
We also open christmas pj’s on christmas eve
When my kids were little, we had a tradition that they could open ONE present from a relative on Christmas Eve. They were always so excited so that helped calm them down so they would go to sleep. I really miss those days, that’s when christmas was fun.
We have a relatively recent tradition at my husband’s family gathering–a “white elephant” gift exchange. We repurpose/regift/renew something fun and wrap it gaily for the gift table. We laugh and exclaim as we choose gifts and everyone leaves thinking about what they will do for the next year’s exchange. It has brought the fun and laughter back to our celebrations after the loss of Granddad and our nephew. I have my “elephant” already wrapped and ready to go!
No special family tradition, but wanted to say thanks for your blog candy offers. Would love a surprise gift.
Watching White Christmas with my two brothers singing and acting “Sisters”. Never fails to delight me.
Besides getting together with family and friends, I enjoy making home made goodies as gifts. Cookies, breads, sweets, it is a tridition that everyone looks foward to.
These days we are busy creating our own Christmas Traditions as our children all have children of their own.
Christmas evening just feels better after getting together to sing carols and praise with other christians.
sdybash@carolina.rr.com
All of my family goes down to my moms house on christmas eve to have a big party and open a few gifts!!!Thank you for another chance to win something!!!!!sarajeank@yahoo.com
Our family tradition we open the present at midnight. My father started this when we was kids. And now that my father has past away 5 years ago were keeping the tradition going. On that day The kids are so happy and can’t even sleep.
Our tradition is we go to my parent’s house on Christmas Eve, then the in laws Christmas Day or the next day (this year). We also go sometime in December to The Toledo Zoo and see The Lights Before Christmas, beautiful and then Children’s Wonderland! We’ve already went to the Manor House and seen the Christmas decorations on Friday.
Hi Jen I too live in the Toledo area. How was the Manor House decorations? I have not been there in years. My family also enjoys going to the Toledo Zoo Lights before Christmas, it definatley puts you in the Christmas mood. The only problem I have is that my husband only likes to go when there is snow. So I want snow so we can go to the lights but other wise I could do without snow. Hope you have a great Christmas.
Every year I make Christmas cookies with my kids and we leave some out for Santa.. My brothers and I always did it with my mom growing up. Happy Holidays everyone!
Growing up and when my kids were little we always got to open one present on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun. I miss that now that my kids are all grown up and grandsons are so far away. We all had hot chocolate while we waited for the youngest to start opening their gift. It always went youngest to oldest.
Christmas Eve is always spent with family we have a big party. We always have a great time , then we all go to midnight Mass.I have always loved Christmas Morning having hot chocolate and enjoying the kids with all their excitement!!!
Thanks for all you do!
My grandkids & I make ornaments to give as gifts to all their relatives and teachers. We also have a special coffecake for Christmas morning. I have to make two now so my daughter can have it at her inlaws!
We get hot drinks and drive around and look at the Christmas lights. We give imaginary awards to the houses. Best display most lights biggest blowups.
Our family loves to get together for Christmas Eve to celebrate. This frees up the married folk to be with other relatives on Christmas Day. Thanks for the chance to win!
First off the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Then seeing the excitment on the faces of your grandkids.
Our family tradition is my children, their spouses and all six grand children come over Christmas Day. We watch Christmas movies as the food is cooking then have a wonderful dinner together, although the kids are to excited to eat much. After cleaning up all the kids sit in a circle and my daughter plays Santa’s helper and hands out presents one at a time to each child. That way we can take lots of pictures to capture the looks on their faces and excitement in their eyes! Then the adults open their presents and the kids play with their new toys. ( now that the grandkids are getting older it’s electronic devices ) Before each family leaves for home I take a family picture in front of the Christmas tree to capture the memories of that year.
We always open 1 gift Xmas eve and it’s always new PJs, usually with a Christmas theme on them. 🙂
We don’t really have any christmas traditions other than the whole family gets together at my place for dinner. My favorite thing is watching g little ones open their gifts. Their faces are priceless.
My kids are both young adults but they still enjoy getting their “waiting for Santa” pajamas each year. It seems to be a popular tradition!
My favorite tradition is reading the Christmas story on Christmas Eve followed up by the Night Before Christmas Poem. Then making cinnamon roll Christmas trees to eat in the morning. Yummy 🙂
We have a lot of things we seem to do every year, but now that my oldest son lives in Portland. We enjoy the fact that he still manages to come every year for Christmas:))
Our family and extended family go to Christmas Eve service at our church and then gather at my mother-in-law’s house for a meal and gift exchange. The sofa has to be moved out to the porch to accommodate everyone, but that just adds to the fun.
I grew up in a blended family. My family opened gifts on Christmas Eve while my step-mother’s family opened theirs on Christmas morning. When they married we combined traditions. To this day we have a finger food dinner on Christmas Eve then go to the Christmas eve service at their church and then open our gifts to each other. THEN on Christmas morning we open our stockings and the little kids get their “Santa” gifts. We then have a big brunch. My hubby, 2 girls and I then drive 4 hours to spend Christmas day night at my in-laws for their Christmas dinner and gift opening with all his family. It is crazy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. (Mind you we have to drive 12 hours to get to my family’s home first!) Thanks for the chance to win another fun surprise. 😀
Our traditions have gone up in smoke since we all live in differents parts of the US
Every Christmas Eve we leave cookies and milk out for Santa but we also leave a Santa Goofy ornament for Santa to put on our Christmas tree. My girls thought it would be fun for Santa to be apart of decorating our tree too. The first person who finds the ornament gets to open the first Christmas gift. It’s so fun to see them search for the ornament!
I love Christmas because you get to be with family!!
My favorite Christmas tradition is when the kids wake us up and they sit very patiently (LOL) for my husband and I to get up and go down stairs with them. They are not aloud to do down without us and without a picture of them waiting at the top of the stairs. The excitement in there eyes is priceless.
I just love Christmas. My children are grown and now it is only my husband and myself on Christmas morning. Then we go visiting and see the grandchildren and exchange gifts. It is such a special time of year.
My most cherished tradition is that every Christmas Eve, I read T’was The Night Before Christmas to my son. I started this tradition on my son’s first Christmas at age 11 months. He is now 15 yrs old and still looks forward to me reading this book to him right before bed on Christmas Eve. I hope he never gets too old to let his Momma read to him 🙂
It is our tradition to not put any Christmas decorations or music out until after Thanksgiving. Santa fills a stocking for everyone staying at our house and we can open ONE present on Christmas Eve, leaving the finale for Christmas morning. We also have blueberry muffins every Christmas morning…Gee I miss my kids….
I enjoy the family time.
One of our Christmas traditions is to put up and decorate the Christmas tree on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. We put on Christmas music, and as I take each ornament out of the box, we reminisce about the history behind each ornament: who made it or gave it to us, where it came from, etc.
We play the dice game every Christmas at my mother-in-laws and we all bring a white elephant gift.
Our family tradition is also new pj’s on Christmas Eve.last year, my now grown daughter turned things around and gave me new jammies on Christmas Eve!
Every year when we were little, my brother and I would ride around with my parents and look at Christmas lights. I still do it every year with my hubby, even though we don’t have any kids. Christmas works out perfect for our families because his family has always celebrated it on Christmas Eve. So, we spend that whole day with them & then Christmas day we spend with my family at my grandmas. 🙂
We like to bake cookies to give to people who may not have as much at Christmas.
I love the sights and sounds of Christmas, but have no “traditions” other than a super special cookie my family always make. It’s more of a blonde brownie kind of treat, but we just call them Christmas Cookies. I don’t remember a year without them!
My favorite family tradition is all of myimmediate familysleeps pver christmas eve and wake up early( my brother and i are usually the first ones up)and open presents.
I love Christmas cookies!
My favorite thing about Christmas is sitting around the dining room table with all my loved ones watching them enjoy my meal while I cherish the looks on their faces, the laughter in their voices, and the love in their hearts.
(All excellent scrapping moments, don’t you think?)
My husband and I both come from very large families and over the years many of them have moved to other parts of the country so we can not all get together unless all of us take our vacation time at that time of year and that is really hard to do. So we get together with as many of my family as possible on Christmas Eve and his family on Christmas Day (traveling is always somewhat involved, but we love spending time with our families so you do what you need to do). Thank you for the wonderful giveaways.
We don’t do it any more but for many years a group of us would gather and sing Christmas carols…we started with neighborhoods….then graduated to rehab facility…then to convalescent homes….we followed it with a spaghetti dinner where we could laugh at how awful we were! The last few years, Santa joined us after dinner for fun with the kids
My favorite family tradition is our traditional Italian meal on Christmas Eve! Although we don’t celebrate with all 7 fishes, we still eat enough!!!
I buy my daughters a new ornament every year. I also buy an ornament everywhere we go. When we decorate the tree we can remember all the places we have been.
We have Christmas a party & play the White Elephant game. Cousins and Aunts come for all over the place. We usually do it the week before Christmas.Great memories and a chance to catch up with everyone we missed throughout the year.
Congratulations Latia Symone Brown ! Megan’s DVD are the greatest! I learned how to use my gypsy from Gypsy A to Z dvd. Welcome to the online crafting world!
Our Christmas tradition is to make cookies & candy for Christmas. I love being in the kitchen with my children. I also made my own Christmas cards. We all go hunt for the perfect tree, cut it down, and bring home to decorate. Don’t forget the hot chocolate. The kids have their own special ornaments to put on themselves. Christmas morning is always filled with the wonderful smell of homemade cinnamon rolls. This year we have a new addition to the family……. Alyvia is 7 months old. She is bright-eyed & looking forward to seeing Santa. She loves to help mommy with her crafts too:) Merry Christmas!
Our favorite tradition is having the Christmas dinner at one of our children’s house each year. The more the merrier. This year is going to be very different because most of our children have lost their jobs. It won’t be as big this year but we will still be together and that is what is important. We are trying to stick to hand made things this year. It should be fun. Regina
Our family always starts Christmas Eve with dinner, then we attend one of our church’s Christmas Eve services. Traditionally, we open gifts on Christmas Eve but with two nurses & a musician, sometimes we move things to Christmas Day because they are working. It’s been a challenge to keep up family traditions but we always have a wonderful time when we’re together.
Our family would open presents on Christmas Eve. We would choose an order as to who would go first (usually youngest to oldest) and then everyone would watch that person open all their gifts and would “ooo and aaah along with the recipient. This process would last all evening long as well as sampling the buffett table. Then we would get ready to go to midnight Mass.
My favorite family tradition is making sugar cookies and decorating them. I love to use new recipes, because now I know I am gluten intolerant, but it makes it super fun still. There is nothing quite like a buncha sugar cookies to make you smile!
My aunt and I always made the Christmas cookies for the family. We spent one day and made cookies all day long and had pizza for dinner.
All our kids & grandkids (47 in total) always come for a Xmas Eve drop in at our house. started when I retired so they wouldn’t have to rush home from work, prepare a meal and do all the rest of the tasks for Xmas Eve. Getting a bit much for us now and so last year we suggested dropping it. Needless to say that didn’t fly. Kids said that is a BIG part of our Xmas so now everybody brings something and we only do the main meal thing. Really isn’t a drop in either.Kids come when off work and stay for hours. Great fun as we can’t all be together for Xmas due to other family commitments. We have our Big family dinner on Boxing Day (26th) when everyone is free to attend.
Our tradition is to have a breakfast casserole for brunch. It is to fun and I crave it beginning Thanksgiving. My husband always makes it and then I make a big dinner. It is so fun.
The only consistent family tradition we have is putting up the Christmas tree the day after thanks giving and taking it down on New Years Day.
Thanks!
Kemma
mykemma at gmail dotcom
My favorite Christmas Traditions are decking out the inside and outside of our house. I also have all the extended family and friends over for a major get together on Christmas night with tons of food!
One little tradition we have is that we sing Happy Birthday to the baby JESUS.
Its such a little thing but its so powerful.
Dawn RI
My tradition is to make ornaments for everyone at work and in my Sunday School class. I also try to make most of the presents for my friends. This keeps me busy as I make around 60 for work and 25 for church. I also include some for my son’s teachers.
I love our tradition of shopping for “A Kid Again” an organization for kids with serious health conditions.
We always stay home and it is so exciting to get up Christmas morning to open gifts.
Merry Christmas!
We really didn’t have any traditions that we repeated every year, but I remember one Christmas we put my Mother in a box draped wrapping over it put a big ribbon on it and gave her to my Dad. It was great. The expression on both their faces was so funny because dad said he was hoping it was a model airplane and she said he thought he’d be skinner…LOL LOL LOL. I loved it. God bless!! Lil
My favorite thing is opening up stocking gifts together, each taking turns opening one gift at a time. When our kids were little they would bring their stockings into our bedroom and we would all lay on the bed doing this before we got up. It eased us into the day. Now that we have grandkids we still do this but in my daughters living room. We have even arrived at their house before anyone was up which is great, love seeing them get up all sleepy eyed and tosseled. I miss such things.
I miss the fun of Christmas stockings too. My children are all grown and live far away. My husband and I have his parents and my mother and single sister locally and we see them on Christmas eve and Christmas day, but I did love filling the stockings with special treats and always included an apple and an orange. My children so looked forward to first getting the stocking and seeing what was inside. I carried the tradition on even when they were adults but sadly it isn’t possible any more. Happy Holidays!
We read the Christmas story from Luke 2 from the Bible on Christmas morning BEFORE opening any presents!
Every Christmas Eve we pull out all the unwrapped presents and wrap them while the children are asleep. The joy on their faces Christmas morning. Layer we all go to my MIL where all my husbands siblings and their children have a very large dinner. With extended family and friends there could easily be over 50 people passing thru.
One of my favorite traditions begins on Thanksgiving Afternoon, after the big meal. My mom and I, with an occasional niece or SIL in tow, will go to K-Mart to begin our Christmas Shopping. We’ve been doing this for so many years, but the last two years it seems the other stores are opening early as well and now it seems when we head out after dinner, we never return until late the next day, LOL We try to whip out as many items off the wish lists as possible. The family members will all sit down during the day with the sales papers around then and write out their wish lists, stores they come from and time it opens, so all we have to do is sit down and write out a schedule of where we need to be and when! *Hugs* and Merry Christmas!!!
Our favorite tradition is to saddle up the horses and take a leisurely ride through the snowy fields.
We (Mom, sister, neices & nephews, grands & great-grands) gather at one home on Christmas afternoon. Before passing out presents we gather around the tree and have a devotional. We sing a carol or two then hold hands for prayer. Each of us say what we’re thankful for then recite the Lord’s prayer. After that the gifts are passed out with a lot of laughter and good cheer. This is usually followed by goodies (dinner).
My fav family tradition is to sit around with everybody and watch old family videos! Thanks so much for giving me the DVD!!
Xoxo
Making cookies with my two daughters. They are adults now with children of their own, but we still have to have our girls day of making cookies all day. So fun!
I can’t believe I left out the inlaws & girl friends and friends.
Our tradition is having my family all get together on Christmas Eve,because our kids are grown now,that way the Grandkids are home in bed when Santa comes.I might be to late to enter,but,I love all the helpful video’s you do and would love to have that new CD under my tree this year.Ya’ll have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I love to read about all the special Christmas traditions that people have, I love making those special goodies to leave for Santa and the reindeers to snack on when they come.
Have a very Merry Christmas!!
Karen dkolopez@msn.com
I love when my son comes home from college and we still get the hot chocolate and drive around looking at all the lights on the houses. we talk and laugh it really is a great time. thanks for all you do. have a wonderful day!!
Since we live far from our family, on Christmas night, my youngest daughter loves to set up the table nicely. She takes special decorations and put them on the table with candels. We have a big meal and we open our gifts. Thanks for the chance and have a nice day.
The youngest member of the family gets to place the baby Jesus in the manger on Christmas Eve.
Some of our family traditions are that I take my girls out and have them pick out a new Christmas ornament each year and we open presents one at a time, youngest to oldest.
Every Christmas Eve we attend Church…and then we come home and the kids exchange gifts that they had bought for one another. Then we read the Christmas story together…and then on Christmas morning we get out the video camera for some opening of presents and then head off to the “Guy” household and spend the day with that side of the family. 🙂
Every year, on the first Saturday of December, I keep all 6 of my grandchildren for the weekend so that their mommy’s and daddys can get their Christmas shipping done. We begin the day with the entire family attending the Christmas parade, then the kiddos all come home to Grammys to begin a very fun weekend. We make gingerbread houses, bake cookies, make candies and then the kids get to make their homemade Christmas gifts to give to their mom’s and dad’s. It is my favorite time of the year and I get to spend it with the most beautiful grandchildren in the world! Not only are we spending quality time together, but we are making memories that will last them a lifetime, long after I am gone from this world! 🙂
Every year, on the first Saturday of December, I keep all 6 of my grandchildren for the weekend so that their mommy’s and daddys can get their Christmas shopping done. We begin the day with the entire family attending the Christmas parade, then the kiddos all come home to Grammys to begin a very fun weekend. We make gingerbread houses, bake cookies, make candies and then the kids get to make their homemade Christmas gifts to give to their mom’s and dad’s. It is my favorite time of the year and I get to spend it with the most beautiful grandchildren in the world! Not only are we spending quality time together, but we are making memories that will last them a lifetime, long after I am gone from this world! 🙂
Favorite family tradition – spending Christmas Eve with all my extended family at my Grandmother’s home. We update the family Bible with all the important moments like marriages, births, etc…, than we sing carols and open gifts.
The tradition I loved the most growing up concerned my father’s job. He went to work at 4:30 am so we celebrated and opened presents in the middle of the night. As children we would be awakened and go to the living room so sleepy, but children always get excited by TOYS and we would be left to play and fall back asleep right by the tree. My mother and father would get on with getting dad ready to go and we would play with our presents. By the time he left we were ready to sleep again so mom gathered up blankets and threw them over us and all that was required was if we stayed awake we play quietly so she could sleep. We loved that tradition so much we continued it even after dad changed jobs and had more reasonable hours.
Hi Megan.
My families tradition in having homemade Quiche Lorraine for breakfast on Christmas morning. It’s the only time of year we make it. It started out with the huge,huge family Christmas mornings. No one wanted to cook anything because then they’d have to cook for everyone. Let’s face it, on Christmas morning no one wants to spend the entire day in the kitchen, making breakfast and preparing and cooking the turkey meal with all the trimmings.
So a couple of days before a bunch of Quiche “pies” are made and frozen. Then on Christmas Eve they are taken out to thaw and on Christmas morning everyone cuts a slice and “nukes” it.
It’s yummy and quick. The worst part is everyone lining up for the microwave. LOL
Since I come from such a huge family (9 siblings + 9 spouses + 17 nieces & nephews + 11 great-nieces & nephews) it’s just impossible to buy for everyone. So, on Thanksgiving day we draw a name and that’s the one person we buy a gift for (in addition to your own individual little family unit, of course). We exchange the gifts when we all clump together on Christmas day. I am so blessed to have such a large, wonderful family!
My favorite part of Christmas is all the beautiful colored lights. We drive through neighborhoods that we usually don’t just so that we can take a look
I buy my 3 children an new ornament each year. They each have their own special collection (one is angels, one is santa, and one is gingerbread men). I put the year it was given on the back. This way when they move out and have their first tree they will have a collection of ornaments to start!
We hang a hand-made ornament on the tree, that is a hollow ball. The ball is filled with a small, inexpensive little treat to be opened on Christmas morning. (We usually put something like a keychain, a cute magnet, or candy kisses)
We love shrimp but its to expensive to buy on a regular basis, so I serve it as a special dish on Christmas.
Well on Xmas my family has a movie marathon, it starts with The Wizard of Oz, and The Nightmare Before Cristmas, and it ends with How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
We do a lot of special things at Christmas time: certain cookies that are only made at Christmas, special sticky buns, French Toast Lasagne for Christmas breakfast (we do love good food!). But I think the most special thing we do is gather as a family on Christmas Eve and read the story of Jesus’ birth from Luke. As my husband reads the story, the kids put that character into the manger scene. Even though the kids are almost all grown, they still love to do this. It’s a wonderful way to remind us all what Christmas is really about. Then we break out the Christmas cookies and eggnog!
One of my favorite traditions is taking the kids for a ride Christmas Eve or earlier sometimes and checking out all the neighborhood decorations at night. Love seeing all the beautiful lights and the kids are delighted to do it!
Our favorite tradition is going to the tree farm to cut down our tree. It is always a Sunday afternoon. We set it up, the boys go to youth choir practice and then 7-830, we sing songs, watch a Christmas video and decorate the tree. Megan, try philosophy perfumes.
Well, until recently it was a Christmas in a Barn service, singing carols intertwined with a reading of the Christmas story–in a cold, hay-filled barn w/ animals underneath. Now the 140+year old barn has been renovated on the inside–so we’ll be having a graduation party there in June for our oldest son & the six other boys from his small group at church 🙂
My favorite tradition is unpacking the decorations. Whenever I travel, I find the Christmas store and add to my collection. Unpacking my decorations reminds me of the places I have visited, and lets me travel all over again. I also have decorations that were gifted to me and I love putting those out as well. Finaly, I have decorations that the kids and grandkids, and some my grandmother made years ago, those are the special ones to display and remember.
We love to make cookies and candy in my family. Everyone is spread out, but love when we all get together.
Our family tradition is to get together every year on a day other than Christmas or Christmas eve. We have a large family and everyone is pulled in many different directions on the holidays and those with small children really just want to be at home. So we get together the weekend before and have a big family dinner and exchange small gifts. I buy my adult siblings, nieces and nephews $5 Starbucks cards and toys for the little ones. We have a great time with focus on the family. This year it will be on the 17th. I better get busy!
One of my favorite holiday traditions happens on Christmas Eve with all the family assembled to play games of Bingo! Something my 98-year old Grama began oh so many years ago. It’s always such fun…
Now that we live in a different state from the rest of the family, we still join in over the phone! 🙂
My other favorite tradition is with my husband…driving around and looking at all of the holiday lights and decorations. There’s one court in a town close by where every house on the street decorates and music is
playing over outdoor speakers…Santa is there greeting children and handing out candy canes…
Food and money are collected for various causes which makes it even more special.
We are given the opportunity to see and hear such lovely displays of the holidays while being able to help
others in return. Just a wonderful thing.
Christmas traditions – In-laws come over on Christmas Eve for dinner and open their presents. Kids get PJ’s from us to wear for Christmas morning and a Hallmark Christmas Ornament. Looking at Christmas lights.
Mine was we opened all gifts Christmas Eve only got Santa gifts on Christmas Day. My husbands was open everything Christmas Day. So our kids open one gift before bed time on Christmas Even and the rest Christmas Day.
When I was young my favorite thing was spending time with my dad. As an adult my favorite thing is spending time with my son
All the adult in my family(about 30) play the dirty santa game for the past 9 years. You know, where you can steal gifts. It is a hoot! One year 8 of us bought(unknowingly of course) massaging devices. No one wanted them. It was funny. My mother has been make gumbo for Thanksgiving and Christmas for as long as I can remember. It’s the only thing I eat even though there about 15 things on the menu.
I started putting a PEZ dispenser in each of my children’s stockings when my oldest was 3, he’s 25 now and married. My kids still look forward to their Pez dispensers and nowso does my daughter-in-law. 🙂
Our Christmas’s are pretty typical but one tradition that we do have is our Holiday Salad for our Christmas Eve family dinner…we aren’t allowed to fix it any other time of the year and it had better be fixed for Christmas Eve….our kids are all grown and married and that is the first thing any of them look for on the buffet table when they arrive….it’s a great tossed green salad with all different greens, mandarin oranges, toasted candied almond slices, red grapes, red onions and a fabulous gingery dressing! It’s nothing difficult, it’s just become something they count on.
My kids have come to depend on pajamas, underwear, socks, and toiletries. I get these in quantities to try an d last them through the year to help them on their expenses through the year. Of course they get other stuff too! Like they always get their favorite candy. My son’s is Creme Savers and my daughters is Snow Caps.
We make gingerbread house, trains and trees with grandkids. Christmas Eve out kids come to spend the night we bake a pie and walk it up to the firestation and sing carols up and back with a candle. When we get home we put our PJ’s on and play a new board game. We also take in Christmas Eve candle light service at church. When everyone goes to bed my husband and I put the gifts under the tree. No gifts under tree until grandkids are in bed………
Thank you
Linda in Stanwood
Well, my husband and I are trying to create new traditions for our small family as tradition is sometimes hard to come by. One tradition, however, that I have had from childhood is having a big birthday party for Jesus. As kids, my sisters and I would look forward to the birthday party for Jesus as we were excited to celebrate him as he celebrates us with family on our special day. Some traditions my children are coming up with for holidays include making things themselves such as decorations and cookies. I love this as a tradition because it means I get to spend some quality time with my children doing things that I love. Take care!
My favorite Christmas Tradition is our gifts to Jesus. Before we unwrap any gifts (besides stockings) we get cards out and write down our gift to Jesus this year, It may be a gift of service to our fellow man or just helping mommy do something or improving ourselves. After all we are celebrating His birth so it only seems right to give Him gifts. Thanks so much for your wonderful dvds and tutorials.
I love to have the family home for the entire day…no one heading off to jobs, school, or other committments. Just a day to be grateful for one another, for the Lord’s birth, for family…in spite of the year’s stressors and ups and downs, it’s a time for each other that counts!
Every Christmas Eve night my husband and I lie next to the Christmas tree and look up into the lights and talk about our life together and how lucky we are to have each other. We’ve had our problems but have never given up because we always have each other!!
My kid are all grown but return home on Christmas eve. We eat allot and talk. A wonderful time. Then we open are stockings before opening our gifts.
Our tradition is to have all the son’s and their families home . We have one of the grandkids read the story of the birth of Jesus. I want them to know that Christmas isn’t all about presents.
My all-time favorite tradition was cutting down the Christmas tree. We would go into the woods and search for just the right tree for each family – usually four, with Grandma and Grandpa always having the best tree. Christmas at their house is unforgettable and irreplaceable.
For us its pictures with Santa. My kids are 2.5 this year so its our third Christmas, Already I love looking at the pictures to see how they change.
A woman I know, well into her 60s told her kids the only gift she ever wants from them each year is a picture with Santa. They have never missed a year. She has almost 40 years of pictures of her kids with Santa. I thought it was a wonderful tradition and started it for us.
My family loves Christmas. We decorate immediately after Thanksgiving and keep it up through January. We open one gift on Christmas eve which is always new pajamas that we wear for Christmas morning. We play Christmas music every day of December. We are thankful that Jesus was born. We read the Christmas story in Luke before we open presents. We take a drive around several neighborhoods and see the Christmas story lights while we drink hot chocolate and sing carols.
I guess we have lots of traditions but being with family for Christmas is the most wonderful time. Karen E
One of our traditions is that before stockings or presents are opened we make hot chocolate or eggnog and my husband does a bible teaching about Jesus’ birth and what Christmas is all about.
Traditions – gosh our family has so many. From making the Christmas pudding and everyone giving it a stir for good luck, putting out the Santa sacks (even though the kids are in the 20’s lol), Santa bringing chocolate coins (once I forgot to get these and the outcry!). Our traditions started with my grandmothers and aunt who always made Christmas memorable for the kids. For my family I have just copied them and added to them. Isn’t this how traditions start. Also my nanna use to give us summer baby doll pjs when we were little and I carried this on to my kids too (though the boys got boxer type summer pjs). My 18 year old daughter said only last night as she was helping me wrap gifts – how come we don’t get pjs for Christmas anymore. I guess this demonstrates how precious these memories are even though we think at the time they are insignificant.
We have my family over for dinner on Christmas Eve day and then go to my husband’s sister for Christmas on his side. Then Christmas Day, our kids and grandkids come to our house for dinner and gift exchange. It is always such fun watching the little ones excitement as we eat dinner and clean up and they are so anxious to open gifts! This year will be doubly fun with a new baby! Lots of new pics to scrap!
I am sure a lot of people have this tradition but we always each open one present Christmas eve and it is always new jammies. My kids actually love to snuggle into their new jammies every year. Many years they have been ones I made but since we are moving to another state the day after Christmas I haven’t has time to make them this year. Thank you so much for the great giveaways!
My favorite tradition is going to see Christmas lights at night. They always look so bright and cheerful
My favorite tradition is carrying on a tradition my Paw Paw did before he passed away. He would always buy my Mom a box of chocolate covered cherries and wrap them up. I now do this for my Mom. Thanks for the chance to win!
We love to go out on Christmas eve and drive around and look at Christmas lights. We take hot chocolate and candy canes, and play Christmas music on the radio…FUN!
It’s Christmas music almost all the time from Thanksgiving until after Christmas. It just puts us in such a festive mood.
My favorite tradition is making yummy 3-layer italian cookies…. you know the petite four kind. Although we don’t really know the name of them, we make them every year from a recipe that has been handed down.
Our family tradition is to go to my Mother’s house on Christmas Eve. It is amazing to see how much the family has grown over that past forty years. We are bursting at the seams but still manage to have a great time. Merry Christmas to all out there 🙂
We sometimes make a birthday or cupcakes decorated for JESUS Birthday so the children know we are celebrating JESUS Birthday. When are children were small we like to give a needy family food box or something they needed.
My family’s favorite tradition is to pick one gift from under the tree to open and we have hot chocolate.
Thanks for the chance to win
Luria
My dad’s wife is Danish and we have a wonderful Christmas eve at her house in traditional Danish fashion. We have a crown roast, yummy candied potatoes, red cabbage and for desert rice pudding. The best part is lighting the real candles on the tree and singing carols before opening presents. A very fun evening with my family.
Thanks Megan for all the fun and inspiration!!!!
German family we have butterball soup and bierocks. Can hardly wait, seems like grandma
is still here, she love to make the special dinner for us at Christmas. Miss her so much.
Our families go to church for a 5:00 P.M. Christmas Eve service and then we all gather at my house for dinner and opening gifts. We have been doing this for many years. Our families are getting much larger after all these years so we really have a mixture of ages. There are about 25 of us.
Our favorite tradition is doing Christmas baking with my kids. Sometimes my oldest daughter will join us. If not, it is just my youngest daughter and I. We make all kinds of goodies for the family and to share with loved ones. We all love it. We put Christmas music on and bake all day…then eat it all up. I have fond memories of doing this with my mom, and hope my kids will always cherish these memories.
My Dad made pancakes every Christnas morning. He never cooked any other time and didn’t have any idea how to cook, but always did this on Christmas morning and all the children were always right by his side. Even as a senior adult now myself, I always think about this on Christmas morning.
Our family always has many appetizers on Christmas Eve after the Christmas Eve Service and then we go riding to look at Christmas lights. We always have a coffee cake for a snack breakfast and after opening gifts everyone gets in the kitchen to make a real breakfast!!
My favorite thing about Christmas is getting together with family. It is such a fun, relaxing time to come together for a few laughs and stories.
Well scrapbooking is my hobby. Just hope that the family members enjoy all the things I have made for them this year….
There are a few things that I would consider Christmas traditions but one that might be different than others listed is saving all types of boxes to wrap presents in: pop tarts, jello, cases from diet coke. My neices and nephews and my kids, especially, like finding out not only what is inside, but try to guess what type of box it will be in! This has carried over to their own families.
Traditions … Baking cookies, cutting down our own tree, decorating, watching lots of xmas movies
hi megan happy sunday! my fave christmas tradition goes back to when i was child: leaving homemade cookies for santa..to this day we still leave something..pastry, fruit for the reindeer, a cocktail for santa!!
Love to watch the little ones open their gifts!!
We open our presents one at a time by age so everyone can see what everyone else got. With 8 adults and 4 children it would be insane if it was a free for all!
We always go to church on Christmas Eve at 5 and then out for Chinese food. Then we ride all around town looking for Santa and at all the Christmas lights!
One of our traditions is to have cheese fondue on Christmas Eve. It’s so yummy and so many good things you can dip in it. Now we get to start some new traditions with our new grandson!
When I was little we didn’t have many traditions and now that I’ve started my own family we are creating lots of new things my fav is the elf on the shelf and my 2 1/2 year old kinda gets it but I can’t wait til next year. Also my other fav. is buying an a unique ornament for each of the kids for the tree which will create a collection for them when they have their own tree.
Our tradition is cookie baking at my mother Inlaws. Shes 77 now. She had four kids. It started out with her kids then went to her kids along with the grandkids and today we did it again with the great grandkids as well. I think there was fifteen of us. Sprinkles everywhere. Even the little ones just over a year helped sprinkle. It was fun even with so many people it was just a chance to get together.. My niece and her family drove 6 hours just for today. It doesn’t matter what they look like it was just spending time together..
Our family tradition is lighting luminarias on Christmas Eve. We did this we I was growing up and I have continued it with my family.
We gather together Christmas Eve and have a Prime Rib dinner. We enjoy the evening together and the grandchildren exchange presents with each other. We play the “Mrs. Wright game” where they pass a gift in the direction the story tell them to and when the games ends that is the gift that they get. Boys have been known to get a very girlish gift before, but they look forward to it every year.
When I was a kid we always went to my maternal grandparents for Christmas Eve and had dinner that my grandma cooked, then we opened presents there, Christmas morning we opened more gifts at home, then mom always made Oyster Stew for my dad which I did not care for. Now many years later, my daughter and her husband have some different traditions and it is a lot simpler now. Sometimes I cook Christmas Eve dinner, but not always turkey, On Christmas we might have lasanga. The tradition now is to have what we really feel like having.
Our Christmas tradition is to always read the Christmas Story before opening gifts.
My favorite Christmas tradition is dinner with our kids and grandkids . We use to love going to a church that did a wonderful presentation every night for a week each year. We walked through and saw several differnt scenes along the way, as if we were spectators of the scenes in the bible of the trip that Joseph and Mary made, ending with Jesus in the manger. They did a great job on it. Unfortunately they no longer do it . It was the highlight of the season for us. Our church has a really nice candlelight service each year that we really enjoy and a Cantata.
Family… just gotta love my girls being around. Through some unfortunate events, we were not all able to be together for Thanksgiving, actually we had only 3 people for 25# of turkey. So, for Christmas, I pray that we’re all together again and that we can celebrate the birth of Christ together, the second most important holiday of the year!
My favorite family Christmas tradition is going to Christmas Eve candlelight service together. I love singing Silent Night with my family/church while holding a lit candle. When we get out of church it is midnight and Christmas! 🙂
My favorite family tradition is going to the Zoolights (in Calgary every year they decorate the zoo with thousands of lights) on Christmas Eve. My husband proposed on Christmas Eve, so every year when we go it’s a celebration of our life together!
every christmas eve we take the christmas pickel ornament and hide it on the tree and let all of our cousins in age group catagories look for the pickel to recieve an age appropriate gift. After the party while the kids are in bed and we clean up the kitchen and put out the crock pots and put the ham in for The Christmas day party, Santa comes to visit and fills the stockings until they overflow all over the fireplace hearth and on to the floor.Early christmas day we open all of santas gifts while the ham is wafting in the background and we enjoy our family time before our other side of the family comes for a sit down dinner at noon, but we all have time to go back to bed for a short nap before the guests arrive, we really enjoy our familytime.. We have 36 proplr over for christmas eve and sit down dinner for 12 christmas day but we have time for each other inbetween too with out missing our zzzz. ask about how we prepare the food so we can sleep in til 10 am every christmas holiday and still have our time together too. merry christmas
My all time favorite tradition or rewarding gesture to do at Christmas is buy gifts for children who come from needy/poor families. It brings tremendous joy to my heart knowing that child will have presents to open and hopefully their parents can experience the joy of seeing their child’s eyes light as they open their toys. My second most favorite thing is to attend church on Christmas Eve, I so enjoy singing the Holy songs and celebrating the birth of our dear Saviour Christ.
Our family tradition is always a getaway to niagara falls over Christmas. Both my husband’s and my immediate family are in the Philippines so it’s just us and our 5-year old. This year we welcome our second child which now makes 4 in our family.
We have this fabulous bakery in town called Ed’s Bakery, and we look so forward every year to ordering a few dozen of their too delicious Christmas cookies! I can’t wait!!
We always bake a Happy Birthday Jesus cake
I always look forward to going to Christmas Eve church with the kids followed by snacks of sauerkraut balls, cheese, sausage and cookies with my family and my parents. Then some cuddle time with the hubby after we get the presents put out!
One of my favorite traditions is going ‘home’ every Christmas morning, to the family farm. We all go out sometime in the morning for breakfast and to spend some of Christmas day with our family. I have only missed one Christmas morning in my 50+ years, and that was due to a blizzard!
Ah, perfume, one of girl’s best friends!! Love it!
My favorite Christmas tradition is when my two daughters, my 9year old granddaughter,and I spend a day
making holiday candies and cookies. Each gets to pick their favorite to make, and we usually share
with neighbors and friends. It’s a wonderful time of fellowship and fun.
We don’t really have a Christmas tradition other than having something Italian to eat on Christmas day. Usually lasagna.
We always got Christmas pajamas from Santa (when we were really little) on Christmas morning – or on Christmas Eve when we were older. I did the same for my son. Now we do it for the grandkids and my nephews. I really enjoy shopping for them.
We always open one gift on Christmas Eve. Then we head to grandma’s down the road for a family gathering of finger foods and more gift giving. We have a huge family so it is crazy! The kids are always begging to open presents before we eat but we make them wait.
We let are kids start opening gifts on Dec 22. One a day not big things just small things.
They really like it because if is a dvd or cd they get to use them.
It might be socks or ???????
Thank you for all of your FUN hard work.
F.U.N.
Bobbi
My boys are young, 5.5yr and 3.5 yrs and we just started a new tradition this year with our elf on the shelf and he’s a huge hit, Ruben has become a quick part of the family and the boys can’t wait everyday to get up and see where he is
Since there is just my husband & I, we either travel 3 hours to visit family or if we stay home, we go to the movie theater on Christmas Day! You can not believe how crowded the movie theaters are. This has been fun reading what everyone does.
When our kids were little we would always dress up before Christmas and go out and eat and then drive around and look at Christms lights.
Our family tradition is to make lefsa on Christmas Eve with my parents. Dad makes the lefsa balls ahead of time so when the whole family is there we begin the rolling and cooking…of course most of the lefsa is eaten as fast as we cook it but Mom always hopes there is some for later but there never is!
My favorite Christmas tradition is making cookies with my children. My youngest is 16 now and he is looking forward to making candy and cookies with me. He even wants to try some new recipes.
Our family tradition…Opening up a brand new pair of jammies on Christmas Eve, gathering around the fireplace and Dad reading Twas the Night Before Christmas while drinking hot cocoa and eating cookies.
Our favorite tradition is our nightly lighting of the advent candles. It’s a time where the whole family slows down for prayer, discussion and music!
Thanks Megan!!!!
Every year we spend christmas with my best friend & cousin. We have lots of fun haning out, opening presents, and trying to get the kid in bed in time for Santa to come :-0
We have no Christmas traditions any more. We use to drive around on Christmas eve and look at the beautiful lights on everyone’s house but we haven’t even done that for the last few years. It was always so lonely when my husband and I would get back home. To know we have no other family to have over or to go see.
Spending time with my sister on Christmas.
A tradtion we use to have was before opening gifts in the morning, we would read the story of Jesus’s birth. As the kids got older we seem to have dropped this tradition and I think we need to bring it back starting with this Christmas!
We really haven’t had any diehard traditions. This year I am hoping to start one in making advent calendars for the grandkids. So far they are loving it and I have some feedback on how to improve the expierence . I also have ideas already for next year on setting them up.
Our favorite tradition is the Christmas Stockings. We have a great time shopping for all the small fun items to put in them and it takes us over an hour to open all the unusual things we find. There are 7 people and each present is wrapped and fun to open.
My favourite family tradition is going to the Christmas Eve service at church. I enjoy the 11 PM one, but with two little ones we’ve been going to the 7 PM service. I love singing all of the carols and seeing the Christmas Story acted out or hearing it read. Never tire of it! 🙂
Christmas morning when my daughter Jaleesa wakes us all up, then my husband makes the 3 girls wait while he builds a fire, makes coffee and sets up the video camera. They keep saying “dad, hurry up, come on dad”. That’s been going on for over 20 years and now Jaleesa is married and this will be our first Christmas without her home. There are sure to be tears, but praise God she is married to a Godly young man who loves her and takes wonderful care of her.
We really don’t have specific Christmas traditions, but we always are together as immediate family. We eat lots of squares and have to have peppermint ice cream at some time. Our Christmas morning pictures are pretty bad as we just show up in whatever we went to bed in, but there are always big smiles. Our children are grown, but act like little kids. Merry Christmas to all
Pat
I’m so excited about receiving my black Friday DVD’s, paper layerz & my stick-its. I have Cystic Fibrosis & was sick on black Friday and these are the only purchases I made. It ended up to be a great day after all. I thank you for your commitment to making us better crafters.
When I was really little, I remember getting into our PJs and riding in the back of Dad’s Station Wagon on Christmas Eve to Explore all the Christmas lights.
Since I’ve been married, we go to my In-Law’s who are Polish. All of my Husbands brothers and sister, their spouses and children and now some grandchildren, gather together and enjoy homemade pierogies, mushroom soup, and sauerkraut soup. Then the children get to open presents.
We have hand made huge Christmas stockings with each of our names stitched on them, and we as a family purchase little items that we think will be appreciated in each persons stocking. Then we get our own stocking and we open whatever is in it. It is always fund.
Our favorite Christmas tradition was to have a play. All my children and my brothers children would play the part of Mary and Joseph. We had angels, the wise men and the shepherd boy. We dressed them all up for their parts. My brother is good with woodwork and he made the animals. We would use a dark blue sheet for the background and put white lights on it with a star. We had a little stable with a baby wrapped up and hay all around! My sister-in-law would play the organ and we sing Christmas songs. I said we had- because they are all grown now and we are waiting for their children now. We also had a Christmas tree and my brother dressed up as Santa. We had a chair all decorated so the kids could sit in Santa’s lap and tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas. We also would go on a hay ride and sing Christmas Carols to all the neighbors. Then we would come back and drink hot chocolate and hot apple cider. This was all held in my brothers barn. We play white elephant and with a big family like ours- we have so many laughs. We had the play and nativity for several years. These are memories that we all cherish.
Growing up in Hawaii, our Christmas day tradition was going to the beach after unwrapping gifts (if it was nice weather). On Christmas eve all the neighbor kids and parents got together and would go caroling.
However currently we dont have a tradition yet still working on it…
Happy Holidays everyone!
My favorite Christmas tradition was going with my dad and siblings hiking through the woods to cut down our Christmas tree. There was a spring out in the woods that my dad would take us to and make us drink water out of it.The water was great!
Probably 20 years ago, my mom got tired of trying to come up with ideas for gifts for my brother and I. So she decided to give us a bag of candy with some cash strapped to it, and instead buy a small meaningful gift for us instead. Then we’d all go shopping on the day after Christmas. When my husband came into the family, he had to be told that there were certain gifts that got opened last and that’s why he couldn’t just grab presents from under the tree. A couple years later, when my sister-in-law (to be at the time), went in and started handing out gifts and opening up presents and didn’t realize that her candy wasn’t just candy. It sounds impersonal, but we make more out of finding the right small gifts for everyone, and the candy is just funny.
My family on Christmas day will open one gift before breakfast then spend the rest of the day slowly and enjoying each others presents by taking turns opening and each being the santa handing out the presents taking breaks in between eating snacks and chocolate.
When I was little my Dad (Santa when I was really little) would ring a set of bells that hung above our fireplace and go Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas everyone! That was the signal that my brother and I were allowed to hope from our beds and come to the tree. Dad would always have one of the windows cranked and be waving to Santa as if he was just leaving our house. I found a big sleigh bell sometime after we first got married, put it on a ribbon and it has always hung above our fireplace. Yes, the tradition lives on even though our dd is now 24 and coming home to visit! I will still ring that bell! Someday I hope there will be grandchildren to do this for.
We have all our children over with their family. We eat breakfast, read fom the Bible the Christmas story, and then open presents while dinner is cooking. Day of Christ birthday and family.
Oh and Megan, your right, the Coach perfume is YUMMY.
We always go out as a family and pick out our Christmas tree. When the tree is all settled in, we put on Christmas music and decorate the tree together. If time allows we make cookies and have hot chocolate too 🙂
My favorite tradition would be to read the Christmas story while we sit around tree (before we open any gifts). I’d love to win any of your surprise packages.
Our family tradition began many years ago. On Christmas Eve we would attend the children’s mass at our church and then get Kentucky Fried Chicken for take out dinner. A couple years after we started this Kentucky Fried Chicken wasn’t open when our mass let out so we searched for someplace to feed the family. We found a local Chinese restuarant open and began what continues to be our traditional eating spot of Christmas Eve. When we began this journey there were four of us. Now that the girls have grown and married our family has grown to ten! When the fortune cookies are gone we return to “Grandpa and Grandma’s house” to exchange family gifts and eat grandma’s cookies. The kids leave milk and cookies for Santa and Christmas day arrives before me know it. The cookies and milk are gone and presents await the children!
Both my grandsons love trains. We have a Train Depot here that has been restored. They offer tours and have a model train display room with a city that looks much like our town looked in the hayday of passenger train era. They have a Cookies and Milk with Santa day where the kids can play games, get pictures with Santa and even play engineer and operate the contols for the model trains. This has become a tradition for us and is great because they only ask for a $1 donation to the museum.
Our family tradition began years ago when our girls were young. We attended the children’s mass at church and then would go to Ding Ho’s our local chinese restaurant for dinner. Afterall, what else is open on Christmas Eve! Our little family of four has grown to a family of ten and we continue this tradition. The evening festivities end at Grandma and Grandpa’s house to exchange family gifts and await the arrival of Santa. The elves get to work as soon as the children are snug in their beds. Santa sure has a lot of eleves now!
I would love the new cricut 2. I just love the imagine cartridges and would love to use some of them, but on my cricut expression that is impossible. It would be fun to use one of those machines. I am just so thankful though to have what I do have. I’m a very lucky girl. Merry Christmas!!!!!
(I can be reached at breaults2003@rogers.com also.) I am in Canada and I am wondering if any Canadians have ever won? Its very cold her now and I think winning a little something might just warm me up!
Thanks, robin
Sadly we have sort of let what traditions we had kind of slide away since all but my husband. daughter, and grown grandson are all left here, everyone else has moved so far it’s hard to get together and we’ve had losses of family members that things have changed with out really noticing. This time of year always makes me wish I could go back in time at times. Merry Christmas and may all you wishes come true
Christmas Eve dinner is my favorite. It’s a special meal that we only get that one time a year – my grandma always made it when I was younger and now my mom does. Unfortunately I moved away from home more than a decade ago and this year is only the second Christmas I’ll be back. Those dinners are extra special now because they are so few and far between 🙂
It’s a tradition that may have ended last year. My mom is one of ten brothers and sisters and every year since I was a child (I’m 49 now) we have gotten together with all my aunts, uncles and cousins on Christmas Eve. Food, singing, food, dancing, food – so much fun. But it is a lot of work for anyone to host and this year no one has volunteered. I can’t because I live in Vegas and everyone else is in Calif. I’m hoping it will come together this year. Julie
My favorite traditon is getting together with the family and singing the 12 days of Christmas. We have such a great time. I love Christmas!
On Dec. 17. 1977, I moved into the house I am still living in, and on The 24th we had our first family Christmas celebration with my 2 sisters and their husbands and children, and me and my four sons. I did my first house decoration which I had never done before, and it was pretty pooly done, but it looked beautiful to us. We never had a house to do this before, and we were from Miss. so it was only three of us here in Los Angeles, CA.. But if you pass by you would have thought there were a 100 peoples inside. We ate, danced, exchanged gifts, it was just great. As the years passed my sons became teenagers, and all of a certain I was the neighborhood “Mom” to all the young mens (25-30) or more. We always lit the fireplace after Thanksgiving dinner was over, and the kitchen cleaned, and then we would start the Christmas with the Whispers Christmas LP. Christmas eve, everyone came to the house loaded with gifts, and the party would began, even before I got home from work. We still do it, but the number of people have have gotten smaller.
A friend’s mother started a cookie decorating party when we were girls. She still has it with her daughters, the core group of childhood friends, her granddaughter and now I bring my daughter too. Three generations making crazy Christmas sugar cookies and enjoying sharing old memories and new. Hope we keep doing it for another 35 years!
Traditions: Christmas music on after Thanksgiving, going to anything (celebrations, parks, viewing lights)Christmas related. Getting together with family members on Christmas Eve, opening up our gifts after midnight mass (Mexican Tradition), and visiting any other family members we did not see on Christmas eve! The best part, being with family!
Feliz Navidad!
Our family tradition is to decorate cookies and tell the Christmas story.
I make homemade food gifts for Christmas. One of our traditions is baked caramel corn. I make this every year for my kids and their families.
On Christmas Eve, we go to the early mass at church. Then we come home, open a couple gifts from under the tree (new pajamas / slippers and a DVD), make pizzas, and watch our new movie. In the years past, we’ve opened the rest of our gifts before bed because we would always go to my parents’ for breakfast; however, now that our little one is here, we will wait for Santa to come on Christmas Eve and open our gifts Christmas morning. But we plan to keep the rest of our tradition alive for years to come. 🙂
I can’t pick just one: Christmas season starts by making my great grandmother’s “Peffernuez” recipe. This is the one thing my husband helps with in the kitchen 🙂 The “half” recipe calls for 17 cups of flour and the cooked dough is rolled into wiener-type rolls–chilled–then sliced and baked. My married children still look forward to receiving some for Christmas.
We always have candlelight Christmas Eve dinner; then read the Christmas story; then one gift at a time is opened by each one, taking turns being the recipient.
Back in the 80’s (20 years into our marriage) I started buying or making a Christmas ornament, significant to that year’s main event. Now I have 30 ornaments, with dates on them, to hang and have many memories as we do it.
I always get my children an ornament every year so our family tradition is that on christmas eve I always have my children open one gift which is always the ornament for the tree. That way they can place the ornament on the tree and it will be there christmas day. Now my daughter is starting that tradition with her boyfriend…..things really do come full circle. Merry Christmas Megan!
My most favorite – is getting up early in the morning and turning on the Christmas tree lights, putting on some Christmas music and waiting for my family to slowly join me!!
Our family tradition began when my 20 somethings were babies and we would tell the story of Bethlehem and the birth of Christ in front of the Christmas tree, followed by the Night Before Christmas, then everyone would drink cocoa and turn in for bed. Now that the chidren are 20, 20, 17, 16 and 16, they still insist we follow that years old tradition.
Wow! above rubies studio have out done themselves with all the giveaways.
My favorite tradition is making cookies with my kids a christmas time.
I always have Xmas dinner for my children and their families, now with 4 grandkids, of course week before just making cookies like crazy.
My favorite family tradition would be to spend christmas eve with my moms family. It is also my birthday so we celebrate that and christmas all in one. It is always a fun day filled with lots of cheer.
Best tradition! Hands down is making cookies with my parents & kids!!
My favorite tradition is going to the Children’s Mass on Christmas Eve, then to my parents for supper and gift opening.
Our tradition is every year we spend Christmas eve at our friends house. It’s lots of fun and it gives us time to catch up and just relax and enjoy each other’s company.
My favorite family tradition is in 2 parts. First off, we have our Christmas either a week before or a week after Christmas so my kids can have their Christmas at home and spend Christmas eve with the in-laws. All out kids & grand-kids come to our house on Friday night, we set up Airbeds and sleeping bags for everyone – the grand-kids all stay in the guest room.
Now for the tradition – An hour before bedtime, we make up Hot Chocolate from Scratch, gather around the tree & fireplace in our brand new PJs that Santa got each of us, and just chat about whatever. The next morning I get up early and make my version of Cinamon Rolls (that I mixed, raised and stored in the refrig last night) from scratch. When those are done, I get everyone up, we have the rolls and coffee, milk or hot chocolate together around the tree & fireplace before opening the our stockings and gifts. Even the youngest grand-kid knows that this is “the way” Grandma & Grandpa does Christmas.
My favorite Christmas tradition is Christmas Eve at Aunt Pat’s house with a break for Christmas Eve Communion. We sing carols, eat (!) read the real Christmas story, exchange gifts and connect with relatives we haven’t seen all year. It’s not Christmas without it!
I love Christmas get togethers with my family because we have such a big one! The chaos, the full kitchen, and our full bellies make us all so jolly that when we go to play dirty santa, that we fight over everything and laugh hard! Good times, yes.. Good times!
One of our favorite family traditions is to spend a day making candy. We give most of it away, bit it’s the making part that is so much fun. This year my 15 year old daughter will be learning to make it herself.
We have so many traditions at this time of year, and love them all, but I think one of our favorites is Elf on the Shelf! Our little elf gets into so much fun and mischief and my daughter loves waking up every morning to see what he’s been up to the night before! Its so much fun 🙂 My other very favorite is that every Christmas Eve before the kids go to bed my Dad reads T’was the Night Before Christmas! My parents always have an open house on Christmas Eve and all the kids from the neighbourhood come to listen to my Dad read the story before bed!!! Its so special 🙂
Cookies, LOTS of cookies. It just isn’t Christmas without a ton of cookies in the house, LOL!
Our favorite family tradition for Christmas is making cut out cookies and decorating them—-thanks for the wonderful give-a-ways—–Nancy
Our family tradition is to have a Christmas Tree party the day after Thanksgiving when we put up the tree- with cookies, punch, and all the trimmings. This was my son’s idea when he was 4 years old. We still party the day after Thanksgiving even though he is now 22.!!
Our family has just started 🙂 When I was young it was baking cookies, which I hope to pass on! We started a time capsule with our Son at the end of last year, which we will open this new years eve and read what we wrote down last year and put in new items.
Also I hope to start volunteering – this year we will be doing Christmas Stocking and donating them to various shelters – but when my Son is older, I would liek us to volunteer around the holidays.
Hi, Megan! I am sorry to say that we do not have any Holiday Traditions, unless you call always traveling. We have been married for 30 years and have never spent Christmas at “our” house. Never woke up on Christmas morning in my own bed. We always have to go to my husband’s family’s home. But i do Wish You a Very Merry Christmas.
This is our most DELICIOUS tradition: My mother has always made sticky buns, (although, we call them “cinnamon rolls”), for Christmas breakfast. The whole family used to come over early to eat. This tradition has modified itself over the years. By the time I had my children, my parents weren’t so enthusiastic about starting early. My own grandparents didn’t travel very well. At that point, she began making several pans to distribute to each family household on Christmas Eve. My brother took on the recipe and the baking a few years ago, and still distributed the pans. He is an excellent baker/chef, so this ancient family recipe has improved with age. Unfortunately, we may not be able to go home for the holidays. I may miss the cinnamon rolls for the first time in my life!
Love the anticipation for Christmas day. The kids get so excited. And allot of scapbooking to do. Megan I think you ate pretty right by what you want. You have to tell u’s what you got. Tis the season.
Well, if I had a guilty pleasure, I think I would want a Jaguar and a pre-paid gas card for a year so I could just drive all over our great USA and see all the sights I have dreamed of seeing.
My favorite is putting out cookies and milk for Santa and then reading The Night Before Christmas and tucking the excited kiddos in bed. Used to do it with my girls and now I get to do it with grandkids b/c they all come spend the night here. I love it.
We have a tradition of opening 1 present each on Christmas eve. THis was my husband’s family tradition and I was happy to continue it.
Every year I make about 250 ornaments then I oldest grand daughter and I go town and just give away the ornaments. She just told me the other day when we were giving them away that she just love to do this. she is 6 yr. It is a way to show her you should give not just receive.
Christmas Eve church service is still my favorite tradition.
Its a simple tradition but if we don’t have sausage balls on christmas morning, well I better just get in the car and leave town because I cannot remember a christmas that we did not have them and my grown children would be so upset even now. Best part I can make and freeze them and just pop them in the oven like I just made them. A simple but very traditional thing at our house.
Before anyone opens any presents on christmas, my whole family must join everyone in singing christmas carols together. Its funny to watch the older boys squirm, but ever since I could remember, if you didnt sing, you didnt open presents. I love this tradition and hope to carry it on with my own children.
On Christmas Eve. we go to my parents house for dinner and exchange gifts. My mom always makes a huge amt of Portuguese food! After dinner we exchange gifts, and my niece reads Luke Ch2.
We have several.. 1st.. each yr my 2 girls get Christmas PJ’s. they are 15 and 24 now… and they still want their PJ’s! #2. we have the pickle.. which is hidden in the tree and whoever finds it, gets a one dollar bill..they rarly find it, but it is fun watching them look… while I make #3 hot cocoa and cinnamon buns Christmas morning. Since we returned to the states several years ago from overseas.. we put on the yuletide log on the TV and open presents together listening to Christmas songs on the radio…. My oldest daughter has moved out on her own, so we wait till she comes to start..We open gifts.. then go to Grandma and Papa’s house to have an Italian Christmas dinner with them… I can’t wait to make special memories when we become grandparents.
One of the traditions I love the most is STILL reading “Twas the Night Before Christmas” to my daughter on Christmas Eve as well as the Bible story about Jesus’ birth. She will be 17 soon and still looks forward to it. Such a blessing. Shari
We have 2 traditions in our house for Christmas. Christmas Eve I have homemade pj’s and a movie for the whole family, this is something that my kids love. On Christmas Morning we have homemade cinniman rolls for breakfast. Thanks for the chance to win something and have a Merry Christmas!
Christi
We have many great traditions this time of year. One of my favorites happens Christmas morning. The kids are not allowed out of their bedrooms until my husband sets up the video camera, I set up my still camera and I get the coffee brewing (shorter now for them because I have the Keurig). We tell them when we are ready and they come into the room and we get their first impression of the tree on film and video. We’ve been doing it since my daughter could walk. They are 19 and 16 but the tradition continues.
Thanks for the fun week.
We have several traditions. Every year the kids pick a new ornament for the tree. They decorate the tree with all the ornaments for each year that are bought as well as decorating with ornaments that they have made over the years.
Every year we get the kids and ourselves an ornament that represents something that happened to them that year. We’ve got boys on crutches, a shopping cart from the first job at a grocery store, a ballerina from the first visit to The Nutcracker Ballet, etc. When the kids start their families they already have lots of ornaments for their trees that represent specific things in their lives. Now I’ve started on the grandchildren – this year is the space shuttle launch, Ariel from Disney World, and a dancing frog. My 18 month old granddaughter dances anytime she hears music, and it started with this mechanical dancing stuffed frog they have – it’s too funny to watch. Decorating the tree takes hours as we talk about each one we put up. Wonderful memories!
I love to read the great traditions everyone has. I really love the fact that people are so willing to share what they do as a family tis time of year. One thing we do as a familyis every year we go to a play about Christmas. It really helpd bring in the Christmas Spirit.
When my parents were alive, the entire family would some into town and spend Christmas here. And my favorite tradition was the Christmas dinner with all the yumminess. We would use the good linens, china, silver, etc….it was a special and very fun event!!
What we do every year, we go to my husband’s uncle’s house on Christmas Eve and we, of course, eat, play games, sing and dance until midnight. At midnight we say a prayer and talk about what Christmas is really about and then we open gifts. We come home that same night (about 3:00 a.m.) and wake up in our own beds to the stampede of children (4) coming down the steps to open gifts on Christmas day. Then we become couch potatoes all day… 🙂
My favorite part about Christmas is the anticipation & excitement that my daughter has this time of year!
Thanks so much for Participating in our FUN Days of Giveaways – Contest Entry Period is now closed and I hope to see you again at AboveRubiesStudio.com for lots more fun in the future! THANKS and Enjoy the Moments! <3 Megan
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