Holiday Traditions

kseccomb17

What are the things you do that get you into the holiday spirit. Other than spending money on gifts and the stress of seeing everyone and going eveywhere, what gives you those warm holiday fuzzies that you await year after year?

Ours:

Make sugar cookies and decorate them

I listen to Michael Buble's christmas album while setting up the tree/decorating the day after Thanksgiving. 

My family has an advent dinner every Sunday until Christmas Eve/Christmas dinner.

We drive around and look at Christmas lights.

We read the Advent prayers on Sundays, and also use an Advent calender.

Warm drinks with my husband after the kids are asleep.

Moving around the Elf on the Shelf (gasp) and seeing my daughter wake up with a sparkle in her eye.

You don't have to Celebrate any of the holidays that are upcoming to participate. What do you do for special occasions that make things so special. I feel like this might help those with exchange buddies if they aren't comfortable telling people what they like or want. 

RedDawnsRevenge

Chocolate advent calendar, naughty decorated sugar cookies, other sugar cookies and "genderless people of ginger dough", when I was a kid we'd go watch the parade of lights down at the harbor in Oxnard.

Edit: Stupid iPhone give me a minute why don't you?!??

AmberLiz99

Getting the tree the day after thanksgiving and decorating

Baking a lot. Anything with cranberries or peppermint is a favorite.

Music of course. CDs and playin it on my piano

Attending our neighborhood tree lighting

I hold a cookie exchange every year, and it's so fun!

My church decorates all of it's temples with fabulous lights, and we live only 30 minutes from one so we always go walk around, and they have live music performances every night through December.

There are more, but my son needs me to read a book

eireyes

The holiday season starts with the traditional 'hunting' of our Christmas tree the weekend of Thanksgiving. Go to the tree farm, cut it down, put it up in the garage for a week in a bucket of water and gin.

The tree was put up in the house and decorated the following week, along with the rest of the house, indoors and out.

We always picked out items from the church's "Giving Tree" - gifts that less fortunate kids and adults had requested. I loved doing this as a kid and am so glad the church I'm in now does it to - I got super excited when I found out!

We decorated Christmas cookies, and my mom makes at least 12 different kinds of cookies plus marzipan brownies and chocolate mint brownies. YUM. The amount of sugar butter that goes through the kitchen is insane this time of year!

Manheim Steamroller Christmas music gets played a lot during all these activities, which I love.

Christmas Eve is my mom's birthday, so we always go to the same really fancy restaurant for dinner to celebrate her, either before or after Christmas Eve Mass. When we were little it was after 4pm children's mass, but now if no grandkids are present we go to midnight mass (which starts at 10... odd, but whatever). On the way home we'd drive around the neighborhood and look at Christmas lights.

Christmas Day we weren't allowed to go downstairs until my dad had the video camera set up (I still don't know why he didn't do this the night before). Frankly, that's still the rule and it always makes us eye roll to this day :-) We'd do presents in rounds (everyone gets one and they are opened one at a time), take a break somewhere in the middle so we could have breakfast and the turkey could go into the oven, then finish up after. This usually results in quite the production that lasts until early afternoon...

I could go on and on but I love this time of year for all the memories I have of my family because of it!

hlm184

Beef burgundy Christmas eve, Christmas day is ebelskivers for breakfast and a fancy scmancy surf and turf something for dinner.

Christmas eve DH and I play duets and the tree elves bring PJs.

Dixon813

Thanksgiving with my family is amazing! Having everyone at one long table at my parents is wonderful!

Growing up we always got a new ornament the night we decorated the tree and we've continued that tradition.

In mid December I have a girls weekend with my mom and sisters in law to NYC. I love seeing the Rockefeller tree!!!!

snowbound

DHs family has a huge Christmas party the Sunday before Christmas and attend Christmas mass.

My family always drove around looking at lights, attended local Christmas parades, and cooked a ham and a turkey on Christmas Day. We also open one gift on Christmas Eve and the rest on Christmas Day. We do the stockings and advent calendars.

DH and I have mixed theses together to form our own traditions for our kids.

Teresa1896

Church and then driving around looking at xmas lights on Christmas Eve.

Elf on a Shelf.

We buy each other an ornament every year.

The kids will get a new pair of pjs from the Elf on his last night (the night before Christmas Eve), which they wear that night.

Stockings on xmas morning, then we take all our gifts to the ILs' to open after breakfast.

*sparky*

We celebrate Christmas with my parents on Christmas Eve.  They have all of the kids, grandchildren, cousins, etc. over, have a huge dinner and then all of the young kids open their presents from the family.  We also do a gift exchange among the adults.  DH and I go to Mass with DS beforehand. 

Elf on the Shelf

Leave cookies for Santa and carrots for reindeer

DH reads The Night Before Christmas to DS right before bed

smushi

My own little tradition... get tree, put on Love Actually, drink lots of wine, decorate said tree.

It's the only way my tree gets decorated each year.  With me sloshed.

DH's family has spent the last 3 Christmases at our house.  They LOVE watching A Christmas Story on Christmas Eve....  I HATE it.  Thanks TBS...

ETA:  I guess I should add some legitmate traditions.  We like to make spicy holiday chex mix, and decorate oranges with dried cloves.