Ours are kinda simple...

Christmas Eve Eve, we finish up cookies and things like that. Mom has me or my sister go to the neighbors to deliver tins of baked goods. This ritual ideally should take 2 minutes but usually we are invited in as the neighbors are finishing up cooking as well and want to catch up on the last year. Later that night, we all load in to a van or two and head out to see lights in our town and surrounding communities... We usually end up back home around 9:45 and play games and get late dinner from somewhere.. My brother and I panic at the end of the night and start wrapping our gifts that we forgot to.

All the good stuff happens on Christmas Eve. We usually sleep in, and my mom puts in a big ham in some roaster in the oven. It's covered in pineapple juice and slow roasts all day. It comes out looking disgusting dark brown but boy oh boy is it delicious. Many of my friends are converts. Christmas Story is always on somewhere in the house, first it was on VHS and now it's on TNT all day..

We open presents. Always fun. We have a "steal the gift" thing at the end with extra $10 gifts we buy that is a newer tradition but is a blast. We wind up the night by playing games, usually board games that are new for the year or old favorites.. Old friends come to call, usually late at the Lachey pad. Sometimes they'll show up at 2am. The family splinters off into groups playing cards, assembling toys, doing puzzles...

We stay up 'til 3 or 4 or 5... Christmas Day comes and we all sleep in.

we open presents to cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate.

and my brother and i still get a present from santa. but that's ok...we still get an easter treasure hunt, too.

the best part about christmas, though, is spending it with someone special. i'm glad dustin was able to get vacation time to come and see me.

This will be my first Christmas with my new hubby so I guess we get to create our own traditions...

When I was young: We ALWAYS went to midnight service on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day we would get up, have a special breakfast, read the Christmas Story, unload our stockings, then open gifts...same routine every year...

I always get my dad a shirt. Always. This year, he's getting a sweater.

This is going to be an interesting holiday, because it's the first one I've been so far from home. I mean, I'm flying back--but I didn't get to help either parent set up Christmas decorations, and I probably won't get to help cook. So maybe we'll have some new traditions after this year (or lose some old ones).

Oh, and stockings. I grew up in Hawaii, so I never knew that stockings were something you were supposed to wear (it's hard enough just to get us to wear shoes). I just thought they were giant sock-themed bags that were usually filled with treats. When I found out that stockings were something you're supposed to wear, I tried to wear mine. It didn't work all that well.

We usually prepare for Christmas by thinking about going away to some warm island. Then comes Christmas Eve, we come together with a couple of friends and get drunk, lamenting winter and being single. Then we go for a long walk through the woods, either praising or lamenting winter (depending on the presence of snow).

Next day we get up early and join the celebration in church. Usually followed up by family diner.

Best tradition yet is not to have any appointments after that... But most of the times we come together to swear to each other we go to some warm island next year!!!!

We have a few traditions we've accumulated over the years. I always make a gallon of homemade egg nog (strong, and about 5000 calories per oz.), which gets set out in a punch bowl over ice with a little grated nutmeg on top and cute little Christmas cups on Christmas Day. I also steam up and peel a big batch of jumbo shrimp the day before and make my own cocktail and remoulade sauces to go with them for appetizers. We go to the 4:00 mass Christmas Eve, and then get together with my mom and my mother-in-law and my brother-in-law's family at the local Jon Thomas Inne for Christmas Eve dinner. Later at home we watch A Christmas Story, and finally we put on Christmas music and everyone gets to open one present, a holdover from the days when the kids were too excited to survive the night otherwise. In the morning we open whatever else is under the tree, and finally open whatever is in our stockings, which Santa mysteriously lays across our breakfast plates during the night. Legos have retained their popularity as stocking stuffers over the years:



Then we have a hearty Christmas breakfast, play with our new stuff for a little while, get ourselves cleaned up, and go wherever we're going (if we're going) for dinner, which is usually a traditional turkey- and ham-based affair. After dinner, everyone in Karen's extended family gets together at one of our homes, and one of the men dresses up as Santa and passes out gifts to all the kids. Even the teenagers must submit to this ancient tradition:



I think it may actually be my turn this year.

Since my sis got married (back in '83 or close to it), our tradition has been XMas Eve with our folks, a couple of aunts and uncles and that's it. This year it looks to be just me, dad, my sis, her husband and my neice and nephew. Sad what aging does. Anyway, we still do stockings and open them before dinner. Then it's dinner and then presents. I always get the kids a game of some sort that we all play before heading home. This year I wasn't planning on getting a game since Erin's away a college while Philip's at home at the community college. But, it's always so much fun to play a game that I'll probably end up getting one anyway.

I usually get together with a few pagan friends to celebrate Yule as well. Good company, good food and fun and games.

Sure miss mom during the holidays.

Cher

My parents do a cocktail/pupu (appetizer) party for friends and family on Christmas Eve starting around 5-6pm. Her guest-rule is do not bring anything, just show up, drink, eat and celebrate (being imediate family I cook/provide a few pupus).

We clean everything up once the last guest has left, usually 12-1am. Then my mom prepares some ham/egg/bread breakfast casserole thing to stick in the oven Xmas morning and at around 2-2:30am we open gifts. Go to be around 3am and wake up whenever our bodies decide to wake up that day.

That's been Christmas Eve tradition for, oh, about the past 10-12 years.

Christmas night we go to my calabash aunt&uncles house and have dinner with their kids and their kids' kids. I like that part of Christmas best, I think. That's been our Christmas Night tradition since 1974 - we missed only one year when I was 9 or 10, family vacation at another Aunt's house in "America".

after sitting in Borders or Starbucks or any sort of hangout place like that, after about 20 minutes, I get up and yell "what the fuck is the deal with all this fucking christmas music?!?", and then I storm out of the place, slamming the door open and squeeling my tires as I drive off...

How does one do this, exactly?

ditto! i guess we'll never truly grow up, eh, jessyka?

my Christmas tradition includes making insane quantities of fudge to pass out to friends and family...

Sounds like someone needs a cup of good cheer. Or maybe a belt of the old eggnog.

Brookd, I lost your cell phone number.. I need to call to sing some Christmas tunes tell you something.

you push, really hard and really fast. it makes a wider arc and slams into whatever (or whoever) is beyond the usual 90 degree angle.
good bit of holiday fun, that.

Just get him to unwrap his Christmas tunes in the 3K+ collection of his.




Wouldn't that technically be slamming it shut AND open?

um...not to follow the path of an inane argument, but how is that slamming it shut? it's already shut when I slam into it to open it. it might get lodged in the wall behind it and never shut again (if you really put some holiday spirit into it)

eh, what's the fun in growing up?

seriously, we never did the presents under the tree thing. we were taught at an early age that the gifts we got were from mom and dad, so no big loss or trauma when we found out that there *gasp* isn't REALLY a man in a big red suit.

except for keith. and i want pictures!

anyway...seriously...i still believe in the spirit of santa, you know? i love the thought that someone out there cares enough for children, and i love the magic that it entails. so, we still get our one present (it's usually pretty goofy, too...a couple of years ago i got a stuffed wooly mammoth whose name is Ugh) from santa under the tree, but the rest are from the fam.

one holiday tradition i really miss was having christmas at my grandmother's. i didn't know, when i was younger, that she would give my mom and dad $200 to buy for me and $200 to buy for my brother...she would mail order a couple of small things, but most of the presents came from my parents using her money.

this was a typical gift opening exchange:

me: thanks, grandma, i love it!
grandma: that's nice. who got you that?
me, super confused: you did, grandma.

i think the worst christmas was the first year that my parents divorce was final, because she gave ME to the money to buy for my dad. and i *always* have a hard time buying for my dad anyway! *sigh*

i miss my grandma.

Is your grandma my grandma?

Oh my god, I think I had the same Grandmother as well . . . how is it we just met?

My family's Christmas traditions were pretty consistant until the last year or two as people grow up and get married, and other key figures have passed on . . .
we'd always spend Christmas Eve with Mom's fam, and Christmas Day with Dad's (which was always uniquely Italian/American).

I think I was 14 before I realized that everybody didn't have lasagna for Christmas dinner. (Christmas ham? Christmas Turkey? So confused . . .)

We do homemade pizza at my brother's house on Christmas eve for dinner (my brothers, my sister-in-law, my niece, one uncle , his kids if they're in town, my mom's best friend and her son, his wife & their kids [he's my one brother's best friend, since they pretty much grew up together], and my aunt & uncle from Maine when they're in town & I). After dinner, we adjourn to the living room to open presents. Eventually everyone else leaves except for the brothers, the sister-in-law and the niece, and we sit around & talk for a while.

That's about it. We haven't had a Christmas Day tradition since 1990, the last Christmas my mom was alive. And even then there were variables of lunch/dinner.

My family is far too disorganized to have any sorts of time-specific Christmas traditions except going to the family Christmas service (always arriving late) at the Anglican church. I don't know if that service exists anymore, though, 'cause Rev. Keith retired last December. That man's in my baby pictures. He's been friends with my dad for nearly thirty years.

Other things which usually go with Christmas:
Stockings, opened either CE or Christmas itself. They're usually just plastic shopping bags. Stockings are too small for my family's sugarlust.

Listening to Amy Grant or Evie until someone threatens to do violence to a precious object, like Mom and Dad's wedding portrait.

Listening to music of my choice, even if that means grinning through Nine Inch Nails and Dogwood for six hours straight. I'm usually good, though, and pull out Over the Rhine (loved by everyone but my brothers) or some classical or Ella Fitzgerald, or Rebecca St. James' Christmas.

Listening to a Christmas record (yes, LP, record) of my parents' about a man who got locked in a vault Christmas eve and ultimately changed his life.

Listening to a comedy record by some 70's Christian comedian.

Presents. I have no idea what this will look like in any given year. I have been known to give people bottles of root beer and say "merry Christmas" because I'm too broke for other things.

The cat usually gets a brick of cheese, which we grate for him. His favorite food used to be all-dressed pizza, but we found out crust and green pepper make him puke. Cheese it is.

Eating a ridiculously large meal. Sometimes turkey, often lasagne, once ham, once pizza, once beef stew, once "serious Mennonite farmer's sausage." Homemade buns, cinnamon buns, pülla, and a pineapple jello ring are usually involved. I don't know what this'll be like this year, since I've gone vegan and Mom is usually very nice about accomodating my dietary whims. (Hey, Patrik? Have any of the psycho earth-loving hippie types over there yet come up with a recipe for vegan pülla?)

Toasting marshmallows in the fireplace.

Listening to my mother and brother play piano. Mom plays pieces. My brother plays snatches of everything, from TV spy themes to the Ukranian bell carol to the LotR "entering Rohan" theme.

Hmm. Pülla....

for Christmas it depends if I'm at my parents or at my sisters place on what we do. at my parents place we go to the candle light service at church then go to my uncles for dinner, gifts and home made strawberry ice cream (my favorite part). then Christmas day it is just my imedate family, we get up late and open gifts, each person taking one at a time and go around the room till we are all done, eat sandwhichs and take naps.

now at my sisters we go to candle light service come home and play games. Christmas day we get up early thanks to my nephew Josh, eat apple french toast (by my request) and open gifts same as we do at my parents, eat a huge lunch of either turkey or ham then lay around, play games, and take naps.

Then a few days later we have more festivities for my birthday which i try and tell my family that i'm too old for, but i never win!

we all get new pajamas on Christmas Eve that we wear that night, and each year the kids get a new ornament that we have to find on the tree once the gifts are all open. it's pretty fun.

Traditions are my favourite.

Christmas Eve day is usually for last-minute shopping with my brother and sister. Or helping my mom clean and such.
But the nite, oh the nite... my brother always has a huge Xmas party at his house with all of his friends, and he allows my parents to "stop by". They deep fry a turkey and inject hot sauce/white wine into it. It's so good. And my friends from high school have brothers the same age as mine, and they're all good friends. So... we move the coffee table and and start the dance party... trying to mix the old music with the new. Needless to say, we sleep in a bit and my brother comes over to open gifts with a hangover. (which could be the case for me this year )

On Christmas day, we wake up around 10 or 11 a.m.(used to be earlier) and go thru our stockings. My mom does really well with the little gifts in the stockings... make-up, candy, etc. We're all required to put one thing in everyone's stocking. So that's fun.
And then we start opening gifts. It seems like every year I have to play "Santa" and bring everyone's gifts to where they're sitting. Stupid tree needles poking me.
After that my mom, sister, and I make Monkey Bread... the most glorious thing on earth. Mmm, I can't wait to eat it!
And then it's more cooking/cleaning and dinner starts around 5 or 6. We normally have about 20 people counting friends and family. It's a casual affair. Folks stay for hours and then afterwards if it's not too late... we'll go see a movie or check out the Christmas lites at the park.

I love those 2 days.

[hj]

I just now shared this with my dad. My mom got him a turkey fryer for Xmas at least 6-7 years ago and he loves it. He always rubs the bird with some cajun seasoning thats absolutely delish - so when I turned around just now and said, "omg, dad... kylie's brother deep fry's a turkey every xmas eve and "injects hot sauce/white wine into it"", his sparkly dad eyes lit up a little. He's so cute. Anyhoo, he's asking what kind of hot sauce your bro uses and how much of it and wine does he pump that sucker with... and what size bird, usually. Heh.

Thanks to Jason in advance, from one turkey fryer to another...

[/hj]

i sit on the couch with the remote control and watch movies.

peace,
zayne

Zayne, we must have been separated at birth!

This year, I'll be spending either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day with Brandon and his family, because my family tends not to be super-festive. My folks always made the effort when I was little, but we never formed any distinct traditions, so Christmas doesn't mean as much to any of us as it does to most people. I do like celebrating it, but it was always more hassle than fun at my house, so we just kind of gave up a few years ago.

For several years now I have been throwing a winter solstice party where we watch It's a Wonderful Life and I give a brief lecture on the astronomy of the winter solstice. This year I invited my tenth grade students, but they were not into it much. I don't know why I expect people to be into the things I am into. This year I tried to incorporate into my lecture some of the history of the celebration of Christmas, since I am these students' Bible teacher. I am an iconoclast, though, so I like to point out how common religious traditions are merely human devices. In this context, I try to do this gently, so that my students can see the difference between biblical faith and man-made religious tradition. I need to do this to myself more than I do, even in celebrating Christmas with a more joyous and humble attitude.