Obviously I am looking forward to Christmas break to get a chance to rest and relax, but mostly I am looking forward to spending time with family. We have so many Christmas traditions that I can't wait to experience yet again this year. My extended family (about 20 of us) has always spent Christmas morning at my grandparents' house. My papaw makes eggs for everyone, and he makes over-easy eggs just for me! (I never make these because my husband likes his eggs scrambled. Oh what we do for love!) After everyone is sufficiently stuffed, my youngest cousin starts begging to open presents. So, my papaw dons his Santa hat and distributes the gifts. Then he reads the Christmas story to us as we all sprawl out on the living room floor. Though opening the gifts is fun, hearing him read this passage is by far my favorite part of the day.
What are some of your family's Christmas traditions?
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Every Christmas morning everyone goes to my grandparents house. I am the youngest so as soon as i get there I'm ready to open everything. No one is even close to matching my excitment. The family generally wants to eat first but I ,of course, want to go ahead and pass out the stockings and distribute everyones gifts. So in whatever order we end up doing this in, at the end, after emptying my stocking, I find two stockings that are empty and wear them on my feet and slide on the hard wood floor. Yeah I get pretty excited about presents and Christmas music.Embarrassing...YES!
Christmas for my family starts on Christmas Eve when all of my aunts and uncles come in and we have a big lunch and exchange presents with them and the adults have a dirty santa thing. Then, on Christmas, my family usually wakes up around 7ish and we open the presents to each other. So then we get ready and go to my grandparents house for some amazing breakfast made by my mamaw followed by exchanging presents with them and my aunt and uncle that live beside them. For the rest of Christmas Day we usually just chill at my grandparents and ride 4 wheelers in the snow(if there is any). And thats Christmas with my family.
I love Christmas; it is my favorite!! My Christmas holiday begins Christmas Eve where my dad's side of the family goes to the Christmas Eve service at church. Afterwards we all go to my Granny's house to open presents. We munch on snacks and stuff and then we pass out the presents. Finally, by order in families, we each go around in a big circle opening our presents one at a time. Sure, it takes a while because there are a ton of us, but it is worth it! Christmas morning my family which is me, my mommy and daddy and my little brother Nathan, all sit in the living room in our pjs and open present. That afternoon we head over to my mom's parents to have lunch and open presents. That night, we go back over to my Granny's house and open our stockings because,hey, you can't open your stocking before Christmas because Santa hasn't filled it yet!
Christmas in my family isn't all that predictable although it usually involves movies. One thing that is predictable is the food. I at least know we will have ham and most likely a cake. I said movies because we either watch TV movies or go to the theatre, which is always fun. Probably the best and longest-standing Christmas tradition we have is the candy. Every year my grandma makes her world reknowned fudge. Ok, maybe not world but definately within our family. The fudge, which is REALLY good, is the only thing still around that I can remember from early childhood.
On Christmas eve my sister and me get to pick one gift to open it somehow ends up to be the gift that is the same. Then on christmas day I am the first to wake up, which is unusual because i am normally the last to wake up. Then i call my sister to come in my room and we lay in my bed yelling at my mom to get the christmas presents ready. We then wait on the stairs until she says its time to come down. I go down the stairs first and we run in the living room and tear through our presents. When we are through opening presents we go to my grandparents and get stuffed and open more and more presents. After that we come home and try on all our new clothes and model them for my parents.
Ahh!! Christmas is my absolute FAVORITE! I guess our traditions are pretty much like any other family though. Half of them live in North Carolina so every year, it's either Thanksgiving in TN and Christmas in NC or vice versa. On Christmas Eve, we all gather at my uncle's house and have a HUGE feast. My family can definitely eat; I mean, can't you tell by looking at me??? :] Anyways, while we eat, there is always a video from previous Christmases that we watch and it's loads of fun. What's weird is that the last 2 generations of my family have had a group of 3 girls who are like best friends. This year, it's me and my 2 cousins and it's become a tradition where we all put on a little bit of entertainment for the crowd. It's lots of fun again, but maybe a little embarrassing... Finally we start to open presents and the greatness begins!
Oh and the best part that everyone looks forward to is that one of my uncles always ends up getting just a little overly drunk and will start playing his guitar singing the most random songs ever. It's absolutely hilarious and probably my favorite part. On Christmas morning we have another feast and share anymore presents that weren't given the night before. It's just a time of pure joy and happiness. I LOVE IT!
& I'm glad I just wrote a whole essay on this basically.
Well first off on Christmas Eve, we all gather with my grandmothers family and play dirty santa. Then that night me and all my siblings all sleep in the same room. In the middle of the night we get up and peek at all of our presents. On Christmas morning, we first off read the Christmas story then open presents at my house just with my family. Around lunch time we go to my grandfathers house and read the Christmas story again then open presents up there.
Every Christmas we all wake up and the whole family goes to the living room and sits around the tree. We open all our gifts, then as we finish, we clean up the mess and we all go back to sleep, seeing we got up at 7 and we normally sleep until 12!! So when we wake up, me and my sister goes to be with our dad then at around 8 we come home and eat dinner with my parents and grandparents! All will change this year though!! My sister moved to Florida, so I will be by myself this year!
First of all on Christmas Eve I go over to my dad's and my stepmom and stepsister! We open presents there and then we get ready and go to my dad's mom's and all his side of the faimly comes over and we open more presents!! Then my dad takes me home. Once Im home me and my sisters are always so EXCITED!!! we cant stand it!! My mom and grandmother tells us to get in bed so we do and we all sleep together=) We never can go to sleep eithier! But finally we do, so then Christms morning me and my sisters are usually the last ones awake but not on Christmas!! So we are always telling my mom and grandmother to get up we are ready to see what we got!!=) After, my mom and grandmother get in the living room we run in their and first we sing happy birthday to JESUS!! then after singing we start opening presents. After all the presents we get ready and go over to my papaw's and so does all my other family which there is *40*of us in one house its pretty CRAZY!=)but its GREAT!! We all eat and let me tell you there is tons of FOOD, after eating we all go out to the den and yeah I have no clue how we all fit lol.. but we manage=) we sing a few songs then we open more presents after opening alll the presents we get the stockings down and thats it!! CHRISTMAS is by far my FAVORITE!!!!!! I LOVE being with my FAMILY and CELEBRATING JESUS Birthday!! It's GREAT!!!
My Dad's family lives in Florida and my Mom's family lives here, so we spend one year with my Dad's family and one year with my Mom's family. At my Grandmother's house (my Mom's side) we used to let my Grandpa distribute the presents. I remember it so well and it was so exciting because you wait all year to get your presents, but you still have to wait your turn! I have to admit since his passing I enjoy my Dad's side more. They are ALL characters, and it is so great waking up to humor. I especially enjoy my Dad's father. It doesn't matter what his mood is, he can always make me laugh. My Uncle Jim and my cousin Jason are both the same way.
My mom's birthday is on Dec. 3, so every year on the weekend after her birthday we go out and buy a Christmas tree. This is important because she is starting a tradition that I will pass to my children, and hopefully they will always get real trees. Fake trees don't have the extravagant smell.
Well every christmas i wake up and i open presents with my parents. Then we will drive three hours to kentucky to have christmas with my aunts and uncles. Then me and my cousins go ride dirt bikes and four wheelers. Well thats how it has been since ican remember!
Mom became a nurse two years ago and since then we havne't had a specific Christmas tradition. Somethings that we still always do are open presents together as a family. Then we go and eat Christmas breakfast/whatever meal it may be nowadays, and we always have caramel french toast and breakfast casserole. I love it! We always take time to remember the Christmas story, and make sure that the real reason we celebrate Christmas is to thank God for sending his son, Jesus. That is my favorite part.
Every Christmas Eve we attend the 11 p.m. Christmas candlelight service at our church. Then the next morning we get up and open all our presents. After we have opened all of our presents my mom makes pancakes. After eating pancakes and cleaning up we get cleaned up and start on Christmas dinner where my grandad comes over.
I dont think we do anything special my family comes over and everyone exchanges gifts on Christmas eve. On Christmas day i open gifts from my parents and mom cooks and everyone comes over and eats.
Well you are pretty funny about the love and eggs thing. But usually my family goes up to Virginia beforew christmas to my grandma's to open presents and spend time with her. Then, my uncle comes in for the week and we have a great Christmas. We involve alot of family but it is alot so just know that family is very involved!! (HAHA). We usually get up quite early because we can't sleep and open presents and throughout the day more family comes over and hangs out. we take alot of pictures and celebrate baby jesus' birthday the best we can. Merry Christmas Mrs. McAffry!! And everyone just remember what Christmas is really about.
We really dont have any major traditions. We dont do anything on Christmas eve. On Christmas morning we open presents at my house. Then we go up to mamaw and papaws to open presents. After that we eat a hugh Christmas dinner and just relax. Thats it on the Christmas traditions.
Some of my family Christmas traditions are that on Christmas morning just me and my parents open gifts from each other around 6:30 A.M. Then my sister and brother and their family comes over and we open gifts from them at around 9:00 A.M. After this we have breakfast prepared by my father. At 6:00 P.M. we head down to my other sisters house where my two sisters and 1 brother are and open gifts at her house. At the end of the night we go back home and we always have one last gift to open from each other then we go to bed!
I never have had an actual set chirstmas tradition. My mothers birthday is the 22nd and I usually make her a big breakfast. Thats about it usually my chirstmas's in the past are very random.
My family Christmas tradition is exciting!! Every Christmas Eve, the whole side of my dad's family comes over to my house. There's about 30 or 35 of us every year. Everyone brings something yummy to eat around 6:00 or 6:30. We sit around and talk while we eat. My mamaw makes this amazing fruit sherbert punch! While drinking up the punch, we open things called "gag" gifts. These are gifts that everybody buys costing anywhere from $5 to $10. We draw numbers from a hat and depending upon the number, thats what order we go in to pick what gift we want from under the tree. If we see something else that we like that someone else has already opened, we can go and snatch their gift, and then they have to go pick another one from under the tree. It's so much fun!! We've done it for as long as I can remember, and we will continue to do it until my grandparents pass away, then we will have to make our own traditions throughout each family. Our Christmas get-together lasts from around 6 to about 11 or 11:30. My grandparents came up with this one, and I'm going to hate it when we all have to make up new ones. But this family tradition will simply not be the same if my grandparents were not there. I love it so much because not only do we have family time together, we also realize how important we all mean to each other. I don't know what I would do without this tradition.
Every Christmas morning we get up to the smell and sound of breakfast cooking on mom's griddle. It usually is anything you could possible want from biscuits and gravy to eggs and sausage. I used to be the first one down stairs but now i'm usually the last. We all gather round in the living room, mom, dad, danielle, kayla, mamaw, and me. This year its going to be a little different. We have a new member in the family which is my nephew, Connor. Its also going to be sad because my mamaw is really sick and in the hospital and im hoping that her last Christmas will be spent at home. She is pretty much my only grandparent and i want to spend Christmas with her. Anyways after that dad hands out presents and we open them. About lunch time we eat a big meal.
So I really don't do anything that exciting but we do something that is pretty neat that i haven't read about yet (I didn't read all of them some of them where really long!)Any who my mom hides a pickle in the tree and don't worry it isn't a real one but it is hard to see because it is green!! My sister and I have to look for the pickle and whoever finds it gets a surprise! But is something small like some candy or something. It loads of fun:)
Every Christmas Eve my family and I go to the candlelight service at church. Our church doesn't do it anymore, so we usually find another church to enjoy the service of lights, music, and praise to Christ's birth.
(I don't know where to post this comment so I guess this will do)
I went to Mckays tonight Mrs. McAffry. I fell in love with it!!
Chances are we'll be running into one another there, soon! Ha ha.
Brittany,
I am so glad you went. It is one of my favorite places in Knoxville. I went twice over the break to spend a gift certificate. I can always spend hours in there!
Christimas is my favorite time of year ( and no not just for presents), but for the feeling of love and the sense of belonging! Chirstmas Eve is set aside for my Granny, we all head to her house to open presents. Usually I go up early to help cook those OH so yummy once a year christmas treats! Then on christmas day we open presents at my house bright and early. After the excitment of Santa Clause we head over for some breakfast and more presents at my Papaw John's house. Finally I go to my dad's house and open presents there with that side of the family and eat christmas diner! This time of year for me is considerably busy! You have the last minute shopping, the HORRIBLE traffic which makes it about impossible to reach a WAL-MART, and all the trash bags on the curb full of wrapping paper! When all is said and done all of that hustle and bustle it is all worth the time you spend with your family and the tradition you carry on year after year.
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