Holidays
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favorite christmas and thanksgiving traditions :)
I was just thinking about what new traditions my husband and I will start. Along with the traditions our families already have. What are some traditions/activities that you and your families have?
and go!!
Re: favorite christmas and thanksgiving traditions :)
In my family growing up, Christmas Eve Santa used to come visit us and have the kids sit on his lap. He just a family friend in town that dressed up every year. It was cool. Christmas morning, parents would make blueberry muffins.
Since E was born this year, we will finally start having Christmas morning here at our house instead of at a parent's house. I plan to continue the blueberry muffins in the morning before unwrapping presents. Not sure what else we will do since E is just under 1. It will all depend on this year.
Watching the scenes from the Broadway shows during the Today show's Macy's parade coverage.
When I lived in Chicago we would go downtown to look at the windows
The post-turkey walk around the neighborhood (we live in L.A.)
Donning my "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" shirt and heading out for Chinese food and a movie on Xmas Day -- then coming back to my aunt's and watching football.
Last, but not least, eight nights of latkes!
Adam & Shoshie 10-21-07: "My family is big and loud and everybody's in each other's lives and business. ... but wherever I go, they will always be there." * My Blog: Tales of a Hopeful Jewish Mom to Be *
Bella's Bistro - My Dairy Free Food Blog
We have tons of Christmas traditions with our families, but this year we are not going to be able to go back to our hometown, so we have to make our own tradition.
Old traditions are
-- Going to DH's Nana's on Christmas Eve for dinner and gift exchange. Then going to my parent's house for one gift a day early.
--Staying up late and watching the Christmas Story several times over on Christmas Eve -- never all the way through, just bits and pieces.
-- Spending Christmas morning with one of our families (alternating whose family each year) opening all of our gifts. Once we finish, going to the other family's house to open gifts.
-- Going to Christmas dinner at one of H's aunts (they rotate each year).
-- Going to my aunt and uncles to see all of my family together
-- Spending the evening with our friends just talking about our days.
This year we plan on making some of our own traditions like watching one of our favorirte movies on Christmas Eve and staying up late with hot coco and cookies -- not the Christmas Story....
Oh I forgot Thanksgiving.
On Thanksgiving, we have Thanksgiving dinner at lunch time with my parents. Then we head to H's Nana's for dinner. We always over eat!!!
The biggest tradition for us though is getting up Friday morning and shopping though.
Our DS was just born in April, so this will be his first Christmas. We are starting a tradition of two things:
1. We will always do Christmas morning, at home, alone. No grandparents etc until later in the day. And then they have to come to us. We are firm believers in not taking DS away from his new toys right after he opens them.
2. We are going to get a child's name off the Angel Tree and have our DS help us pick out presents for that child. We want him to know that not all kids are so fortunate as he is. (Of course, we'll do the picking this year!)
We usually stay up late on Christmas eve and watch Christmas movies. Always have a fire and drink coffee and Bailey's or cider and brandy.
Wake up on Christmas morning and DH and I open our presents. Then the family comes over for a huge brunch around 10am. We always open our stockings after brunch while the fam opens their presents from us.
Thanksgiving, I always make and bring a sweet potato casserole to both families.
We got to a tree farm the sunday after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree with my parents and family. We get hot cocoa, popcorn, an ornament, and take pictures in the santa sleigh too
DH and I get our yearly Christmas ornament on our anniversary (which is in Dec.).
We host Christmas eve dinner at our house, with the IL's
Christmas day, we have brunch then head to my parents.
We watch and listen to our favorite Christmas movies/music. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and listening to Harry Connick Jr is our faves!
I would like to get some more traditions.
This is one we have continued from when I was little.
Andrew and I buy each other new pajamas and we open them Christmas Eve so we have new jammies to wear that night.
Nothing elaborate or fancy but I look forward to it.
We get new jammies on Christmas Eve. We've even given them to people who have spent the holiday with us (friends of our kids who couldn't travel to be with their families). Everyone with us gets a stocking, too.
We do travel for Christmas, but we have to spend the night Christmas Eve where we will spend the day. We started doing that when our kids were young, so that they had their presents with them that day, since leaving to spend the afternoon at my grandparents was a drag when I was a kid. Every other Christmas we traveled so that our kids could be with grandparents, aunts uncles and cousins, all opening presents together in the morning. We still travel everyother year, and have added our grandsons to the house, so my brother and his family stay in a hotel, but show up early to open gifts together.
The years that we are home, we have pajama day. We stay in our jammies all day, go see the neighbors like that, play games, watch movies and eat appetizer type foods all day, instead of a sit down meal.
We have also traveled on our year not to go 'home'. We realized that it didn't matter where we were...just that we were together. We've taken a small artificial tree with lights with us, and supplies to make ornaments (cord for hanging, glue, glitter), and made ornaments from found objects. We use the ornaments from these trips on our tree now...a joker from a deckof cards, origami cranes and boxes made from a popcorn bag from the movie we went to see on Christmas Eve. A pinecone from the ground at the hotel... all kinds of things that remind us of great holidays and 'the best Christmas ever'.
We collect things from vacations or special occasions to use as ornaments. The bout from a daughter's wedding, hotel keycards, a backstage pass, a kukui nut lei from a hawaiian vacation...all sorts of weird things and wonderful memories. I was so upset a few years ago, when my parents threw out what they thought was part of a broken ornament. It was a little paper angel cupcake decoration that I had been putting on their tree since I was 5or 6. It had a pipe cleaner in it that I used to attach it to the branch, but because I put it on and it was always at the bottom of the tree, they didn't realize that it was there.
Thanksgiving:
After dinner is done and cleaned we take all the Black Friday ads and spread them over the table and make our plan of attack for the next day. When we were kids we would then watch Christmas Vacation.
Christmas:
We go to my side of the family on Christmas Eve. It has been like that since I was a kid. We eat dinner while playing Christmas Story, then while my aunts clean us "children" separate the presents. We then open gifts and then since TBS has Christmas Story on repeat we watch it from the beginning.
I love these holidays!!
It seems our traditions revolve around food - if the Thanskgiving (my Grandma cooks) or Christmas (my mom cooks) menu changed it would freak me out. Not even my favorite stuff, just what we are "supposed" to have.
DH and I started a tradition of drinking hot chocolate w/peppermint schnapps while walking around our neighborhood looking at Christmas lights. We also try to watch the animated Christmas shows from childhood (my favorite is Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas- cheezy, but I love it) and at least one old black and white movie while eating roasted chestnuts.
DH also buys me an ornament every year for our tree and we buy them on vacation, so we can contiue to enjoy our souveniers year after year.
Well our traditions are very close with both families but its an hour and 30 minutes from his hometown to where we live then like 6 hours from where we live and to where my parents go, it all really depends on where everyone's having everything... except for this year because of shortage at my job we'll have to do things a little different since both Thanksgiving and Christmas run so close to a weekend...(I work a weekend shift at a healthcare agency 16 hrs on Saturday 16 hrs on Sunday)
Well for Thanksgiving it also depends on our families, more mine then his because mine travels. Last year they decided to go to Mississippi which is normal so i went to see Drew's family a few days before i left then left with my parents to go eat with our big family down there, Drew stayed with his big family here in Tennessee. Now this year will be different. This year my family is going back down to Mississippi but i still have to work all weekend. I would feel bad for cutting my family's trip short because of work. So this year i will be staying up here and going to Drew's family Thanksgiving. Everyone goes to his parents house and brings food.. So this year I'm going to make pies.. and probably some small snack food.. Luckily i make some mean pies and found out no one makes pumkin or sweet potato... so theres that...i might make some kind of layered dessert too, so it will look pretty.. We'll see...
Now for Christmas, We go early to see Drew's parents and his family and do Christmas a few days before. Then I go back to Cookeville or drive down to Mississippi with my family and Drew stays in Goodletsville with his then we meet back up the day after Christmas.. Last year my parents decided to have Christmas at home so i stayed with Drew's family until the afternoon of Christmas eve..The night before Christmas Eve his parents put Christmas wrapping paper over their doors so when they wake up there's a message and it really helps the Christmas spirit. This year though it will depend on my family. If they stay home for Christmas then great, i'll spend the few days before Christmas with Drew's family then come home and stay with my parents but if they go to Mississippi it will be alot of driving and alot of gas, I will have to spend the first few days with Drew's family then drive down to Mississippi myself.
Hopefully we will all have a Merry Christmas