Holidays
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Tell me about your holiday traditions
A lot has changed in my family this year, most specifically, my grandparents died. They really anchored our traditions, and now that they're gone, most of the things we used to do... well, things just aren't the same anymore.
I know folks who do Christmas Eve pub crawls and Yankee Swap Parties and cookie swaps and all kind of things like that. I'm really searching for some new traditions, and I'd love to hear from y'all.
Re: Tell me about your holiday traditions
When we're with my family (I don't know DHs traditions and we haven't yet set our own, we've only had one married Christmas), on Christmas Eve we have snacky food and we watch old Christmas movies. We also open presents from our siblings and then the kids stay up as late as possible.
Christmas morning we all get up and find our "present spots" (where we sit on the floor to open gifts). Someone reads the Christmas story and then we open our stockings while the gifts are handed out. After gifts we have cinnamon rolls and pastries and then we hit the kitchen to start cooking.
No big fancy traditions but we love them just the same!
We have a couple of traditions. A few can be done anytime throughout the season which is nice.
1. We make hot chocolate and walk around the neighborhood looking at lights. We invite any friends who want to join us. I prefer this when it is snowing - makes everything prettier.
2. Roasted chestnuts, hot chocolate and a movie snuggled on the couch. I fit in as many Chrismtas movies/shows as I can.
3. My mom and I spend a day shopping for gifts - nice time together and ona weekday it is less stressful.
4. DH and I have mimosas and make breakfast Christmas morning. We pick a new recipe and have fun spending the time together before opening gifts and seeing family.
5. We spend every Christmas eve with DHs sisters. Every Christmas day with my parents. My mom always makes the same dinner (prime rib, cheesy potatoes, rolls, corn) so it just feels Christmasy to have it.
Traditions for DH and I vary, depending on my work schedule.
This year, I am working on Christmas Eve, so we won't go to my aunt's house (aunt's house is potluck Italian dinner and a Yankee Swap). Instead, DH, kids, and I will watch Elf, have some drinks and what I call "junk food dinner," where I make different finger foods and we snack in the living room in our pajamas. The kids get a HUGE kick out of this.
Christmas Morning, I make an egg casserole and we enjoy a nice breakfast and then open presents.
During the day, we visit DH's father's house, and then onto DH's uncle's house later in the day. There's usually turkey at FIL's and lamb at DH's uncles. We only do gifts for the little kids on DH's side, so they open after dinner.
We do Christmas with my family the Sunday after Christmas, have a big brunch, exchange secret santa gifts, and have a grab bag gift exchange. We used to make gingerbread houses, but it got to be too much so we skip that now.
This will only be our 2nd Christmas together but I think we set a good pattern last Christmas that will most likely be our tradition.
Christmas Eve we go to dinner at someone on my side's house. There is always a TON of food and we usually play a rude gift game. (This has been a tradition in my family since I was little and I look forward to it every year!)
Christmas Day we go to early mass then DH drops me off at the house so I can start breakfast while he picks up his dad. This year BIL and his fiance will probably join us for a Christmas breakfast of pancakes shaped like trees (yeah.. I'm a dork)
Since my dad usually works Christmas we will go down to parents that night and have dinner and exchange gifts with them and my aunts and uncles.
Christmas Eve- go to my aunts house (about 45 minutes away) with my dad's side of the family and eat a huge fancy dinner and play games. Afterward we go to church at midnight. I love Christmas Eve probably more than Christmas Day!
Christmas Day- Dh and I open gifts and then drive to my parent's house about 25 minutes away. We open gifts with my parents and brother. My mom's side of the family comes over and we cook/talk and eat lunch. In the evening we go to Dh's parents' house which is about 15 minutes away. This year we are celebrating on the 26th per my MIL's request. She does a fun fondue dinner and we open gifts with them and my BIL.
We have a few traditions.
For years we all get together as a family at my mom's house the Saturday before Xmas to make our Italian dessert - it's my great grandma's recipe (she came directly from Italy). We have all the kids there too - we order pizza and make our recipe as a family. We did this with my mom when we were kids - I have photos of me playing with the dough at age 2! Now my mom has 6 grandkids ages 3-10 and we all do it together.
The week before xmas I set aside another day for "Cookie Day". I have all my neices and nephews over and we decorate cookies for Santa and to take home for them. I have a shirt box with each kid's name on it for their cookies. I do cut out cookies - I bake them ahead of time and I let the kids use as much frosting, candy and sprinkles as they want to decorate their cookies. They are really gross to us (1 inch thick frosting with a mound of sprinkles), but the kids LOVE it. They eat as many as they want too! I started this tradition 7 years ago before I was married with a child of my own....now my 3 year old loves doing this and now I include some of his friends (this year there will be 12 kids!). I take photos of each little one with their box of cookies before they go too!
We spend Xmas day at our home only - we don't go anywhere. Anyone is welcome to come over from either of our families or even friends. We make home made lasagna (my family's recipe) as a tradition. We serve our Italian dessert too.
We also drive 1-2 hours from our home the first weekend in December and cut down a fresh xmas tree. We make a day of it - we go with another family. We meet for a good breakfast in the morning as a group, then we drive in 2 cars and go searching for the perfect tree. I try to take our xmas card photo that day among the pretty xmas trees.
I also have a red leather photo album that I pull out every year. I put a few xmas photos from each year in there so when we look back it starts with me and my DS as kids with our siblings and then it bumps up to about 10 years ago with my nieces/nephews and such. It's always a conversation piece on the coffee table.
I also started a tradition when my son was born in 2006. I buy a photo orniment with the year on it each year and put his photo in it. I put it on the tree.....by the time he's an adult we will have 20 of them! I think he will like those one day for his own family xmas tree. I also give one to each grandma from my DS.
We also started the Elf on a Shelf tradition this year for my son since he's 3. He loves it so far!
That's all we do that I can think of!