Holiday Traditions

[IloveJack]

I absolutely love this time of year! From Thanksgiving to New Year's is my favorite "season." The time with family, and all the joy that surrounds the festivities, is so wonderful!

So what are your holiday traditions?
:pilgram: :pilgram2: :turkey:
Dh and I go to my parents on Thanksgiving morning. He goes hunting with my db, and I watch the Macy's parade with my mom, while she and dad fix breakfast. Then we spend the afternoon planning our attack for Black Friday. That night, my granny (the only surviving grandparent I've had since age 7) makes Thanksgiving dinner for her two sons and their familes. With my dh and my db's gf, we now equal 10. (Granny's already got 2 tables in the dining room, don't know what she's gonna do when we have our first kid). Then we end up retiring to the living room to watch tv (but not football, as my uncle's family couldn't care less) and sit and talk.
:santa2: :tree: :snowman:
As for Christmas, we're all at Granny's again on Christmas Eve for dinner, and everything's the same as Thanksgiving, except that we open presents after dinner. Then dh and I, db and his gf, and my parents go back to their house to open presents, and to celebrate Mom and Dad's anniversary (39 years on Christmas day, this year!). Around midnight, we split up. Dh and I go back to our house, Db and his gf head to her parents house, and Mom and Dad go to bed.
Christmas day, Dh and I open our gifts to each other, and our stockings. (We decided to start this tradition in planning for our future family, and since my family has always celebrated the eve more than the day). I watch the WDW parade, and then we head to his parents house to have lunch and open presents there. We usually stay there until late, since we don't see them all that often.
We started hosting dh's family (4 couples w/ kids) last year, on New Year's day, as it's less busy than Christmas. We have dinner early, and spend the rest of the evening together.

[cajunprincess]

As a child, we always always always put up our Christmas Tree on Thanksgiving day. We looked very much forward to it. My now very borken family, has no tradations together, so it is something that my sister and I remember to this day. We try as much as we can to uphold it with our current families.

[poeticeclipse]

This is the first year where things are going to be different. I no longer live with my mom. :( My hubby and I bought a house this year. We're going to get a real tree (something my mom never ever did) and we're going to decorate outside the house (something else my mom never did).

This weekend, I told my mom that I wanted to come over and help her decorate the inside of the house like usual. She said "I have to decorate?" This almost broke my heart. I replied, "Yes! You are! I'm coming over and we're going to do everything just like every other year." haha. I don't want things to change but I guess at some point, it has to.

Since my dad passed away when I was 6, my mom and I always took great pride in decorating the inside of our house. We brought all the x-mas stuff up from the basement. Took out everything and decided what we were going to use. I decoarted the banister. She'd put the decorations on the front and side doors. We'd both decorate the archway and the "Elvis room." While she did her Elvis tree, i'd do my "childhood tree" where I put ornaments that I made/received as a kid. We turn off all the lights and then flick on every christmas decoration that lights up. We both hold hands, stand by the x-mas tree and sing "O, Christmas Tree." The best part of this is we never know the words past "...how lovely are your branches..." so we end up singing "la la la la la la la" until we get back to "O, Christmas tree, O christmas tree.." :D

[May524]

Well this is my first holiday season married and pregnant! But most things have stayed the same:

Thanksgiving day: We go to my sisters in the afternoon, chow down and watch some TV. It's always a tradition that we make our Christmas Lists that night...yes I'm 25 and make a list :) We mostly do it for the children though..shhhh :secret: And this year my DH and I leave the next day for WDW!

Christmas Eve: We start at my dh's grandma's and have appetizers and drinks, and exchange our gifts with his family. Then after we RUSH over to my sisters for Christmas Eve with my family and it's her birthday! We have dinner there.

Christmas Day: I'm unsure how it will work this year, my dh's parents are divorced and his dad usually goes hunting, so some years we see him some years we don't, and his mother lives an hour away...but as far as me, I go to my sisters and we exchange gifts and have christmas dinner!

I'm so excited just talking about it :D

[disneydrmr]

We spend Thanksgiving at my parents house. My younger sister is always there... my older brother and his family, and then my older sister and her husband - well, it varies from year to year with them. This year older sis will not be there, but brother and his family will. We used to have to split this holiday with my dh's family.. but they are not a part of our lives at the present time so it will only be my parents.

Christmas is pretty much the same. We'll probably spend Christmas eve at our own house watching Christmas videos. Then Christmas day is at my parent's house again, with which ever siblings are able to make it. Again, we used to spend Christmas eve with dh's family.. but we will not be doing that this year (though we may go visit his grandma - depending on what her plans are and who will or will not be at her house)

Since dh and I have no kids we don't really decorate that much. I put up a large Nativity scene on our entertainment center. And I have a mini 'christmas village' scene that I display on a counter... that's about it.

[conorsmom2000]

Our holidays are now a mix of new traditions with some of the old. Both my Mom and Mike's Mom passed away 5 years ago, so things are different, but I like our new traditions too!

Thanksgiving is now held at my house - my sister does the turkey and I do the rest. The turkey is soaked in a brine overnight, so she comes over Wednesday night to do the prep work, then we cook on Thursday. Thanksigiving now includes a yearly disaster, that we didn't have when Mom cooked! :blush: (one year the bag with the brine broke - luckily the turkey fell straight into the bucket, but my kitchen was flooded out with water, chicken broth, lemons floating into the dining room....etc! The following year my sister dropped the meat thermometer into the oven and the little plastic piece started an oven fire!! Always interesting...) :funny:

We time dinner so we can run up to the High School to catch the half time show of whichever niece or nephew is playing in the High school band. The Macy's parade is always playing and once Santa appears, it's okay to start playing Holiday music! After dinner we play, of all things, some kind of Friends trivia game (last year was Friends Scene-it!) Friends was just one of those TV shows we all watched and we get quite competetive! :blush:

Christmas decorations will go up soon, but not the tree - we always have a live tree and we put it up a week before Christmas (which is better than my Dad - growing up it NEVER went up until Christmas Eve!)

Christmas Eve has never been a big thing for us, aside from Mass. My sister has started hosting a Christmas Eve dinner though, so that's a new tradition for us. All day on Christmas Eve we love to track Santa on NORAD! :mickey: Stockings are hung, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" is read, cookies, milk, carrots and a note for Santa and the Reindeer are left out, then it's off to bed for Conor!

Christmas morning, just as when I was a kid, we all wake up, and Con and I sit at the top of the stairs while Mike checks to see if Santa came (really turns on the tree lights). When he gives the all clear we run downstairs and watch Conor open his presents. Then it's time, of course, for Pillsbury Cinnamon rolls!!! :tasty:

We head over to my Dad's at about 11, where my siblings and neighbors still gather for our tradition Christmas brunch (and more presents!). After brunch we go back home to get ready for dinner, which is at our house - both my family and Mike's come for this (we've had as many as 16 in my little house!) We usually cater this as we are not home long enough to cook a big dinner. Everyone shows up around 4, we do more presents, then eat around 5.

After dessert, we would normally head out to New Rochelle, NY, where my Mom's family all gathers at my Uncles house. I've done that since I was a kid, but we don't go anymore since we are exhausted by that point and usually still have some of Mike's family at our house. But, the rest of my family still goes.

And if Mike doesn't have to work the day after Christmas, it's an official "pajama day!" at our house! :D

[alphamommy]

Since my in-laws started going south for the winter, and my folks passed away, my BIL from the Upper Peninsula usually comes down to our house. This year, however, he isn't going to make it until Christmas. My sister and her husband have always done their own thing for Thanksgiving, so we're going to my best friend's house and celebrating with her family. They have a large screen TV, so I plan to watch the Lions.

We'll probably put up the tree the first weekend in December, then do a major shopping excursion the next weekend. We really don't have that many people to buy for anymore since DH's family only does presents for the kids. The weekend before Christmas, we make about a zillion cookies.

For Christmas, BIL will be here, and my sister and her husband will come for Christmas Eve (we alternate each year since my mom passed - this is my year). We'll have dinner, then open presents together. On Christmas morning, we'll open our presents to/from each other, eat leftovers, and watch whatever football is on.

The past few years, we have went to DH's other brother's house for New Year's Eve and the kids open their presents. Some family friends come, too, and we eat and watch football until the ball drops.

New Year's Day I plant myself in front of the Rose Parade, then watch football all day!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

[PirateLover]

Thanksgiving has lost a lot of it's luster for me since my grandma stopped being able to cook due to Alzheimer's and then passed away 5 years ago. I look forward to the day when I'm married and can start my own traditions. I'd love to have a big thanksgiving day meal at my house some day.

Christmas Eve is the big tradition time for me. We always go to Christmas eve mass. When we return, baby Jesus is placed in the manger and we all open one present and watch a Christmas movie. In recent years traditions have expanded to include ordering a pizza for our after-mass dinner and my dad added a rule that we can open an additional present after midnite ;)

[snowflakegirl]

Our traditions change a little bit depending on a couple of factors like our work schedules (DH works in retail full-time and I have a second job part-time in retail so our schedules are sort of up in the air and very busy this time of year) and whether or not my mother (who is a nurse and works overnights) is working.

We live about two hours away from my family and about four hours from DH's. Because we're usually both working "Black Friday" DH and I try to go home to his family the weekend or two before Thanksgiving and see his parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Then either the day before or the day of Thanksgiving we drive up to my parents. If my mother is working (like this year) she works the night before and the night of and my younger sister and I will spend our time prepping and cooking. If she's not working, she cooks while I help and DH and my little sister watch tv and play board games. My dad goes back and forth with helping and playing.

For Christmas, DH and I just do our own thing. We both typically have to work Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, so we can't get home to Maine to see his family, and my father is the assistant director of a ski school so he's always working Christmas. We sleep in a little bit, I make a nice egg and sausage bake for breakfast. We open presents and watch the Disney parade. Then we pick two movies and go do a double feature at the movie theatre. Then we make dinner and spent a quiet night at home watching Christmasy movies.

For New Year's DH and I usually curl up on the couch with "When Harry Met Sally" which is one of our favorite movies. Every couple of years we'll go to a party, but we usually like to take it easy and stay off the roads on New Years.

So that's my holiday season in a nutshell...and since it's snowing for the first time today (!) I'm really getting in the holiday mood.

[Tiggerlovr9000]

Usually we get together with dh's side of the family for Thanksgiving. We have all hosted it but sil will this year. We will have dessert at my sisters. Christmas Eve is usually the 5 of us but my fil is coming this year. Our town has an open house at the senior center where we eat soup , sandwiches and sing carols. We also go to candlelight service at church. On Christmas we will back at my sil's house. Another tradition is to attend the concert at the local college, called cocoa and carols.

[bleukarma]

All of my family lives in Ohio except for just me and my great aunt, but I usually cook a big Thanksgiving meal for us and all my friends (who I consider family). This year I have decided not to cook so my aunt and I going to my best friends mom’s house for dinner. Usually on Thanksgiving our Christmas decorations are taken out and the tree is put up. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is always on tv in the morning and the afternoon it’s usually some sort of movie found on tv (usually a Christmas movie).

I usually have a retail part time job at Christmas so I’m usually working on Christmas Eve until the afternoon. After I get off work my aunt and I go to church service. When we get home we open presents, except for one. A Christmas Story is usually on the tv.

Christmas Day is usually just like Thanksgiving, with me cooking a big meal and friends coming over. When we wake up we open our last present held over from the night before and get the stuff out of our stockings, which are a big deal at our house. On tv is a parade and a Christmas movie later in the afternoon.

[Jeff G]

Thanksgiving morning starts with Cinnamon rolls and the Macy's Parade. Around lunch we head to our hometown which is a 45 minute drive where we get together with my family which is at either my parents or one of my aunts/uncles house. We have anywhere from 30 - 40 people for diner consisting of four generations. This year the Packers :number1: play so it will be especially fun. Diner is the traditional turkey fare. On the Saturday after we always get together at my in-laws to celebrate, my brother in law is a chef so we usually have great food.

On Christmas Eve we start th evening with the kids putting on their annual Christmas service at Church. After the service we head back to my house where we host my parents and my brother's family. Diner consists of many appetizer type foods including fondue, meatballs, shrimp & dip, cheese and crackers, etc. After the meal we open presents and relax. We used to go for a drive to see the lights and look for Santa but the past couple years the kids have wanted to play with their toys instead.

Christmas Day is chaos. We start with Santa's gifts and sticky buns. We then head to our hometown for a stop at the in-laws. We have lunch here around 1:30 and exchange gifts. After we finish here we then head over to my families side, usually at an aunt/uncles house, for diner and a few final presents. The end of the day usually consists of a drive through the local park enjoying the Christmas decorations.

[Aggie97]

We don't really have any consistent holiday traditions, as my immediate family has been spread out all over the country (and sometimes outside the country) since I started college in 1993. We have never lived close enough to extended family like grandparents, etc. to get together with them on holidays.

For the past six years DH and I have spent Thanksgiving vacation in victorian Cape May, NJ (which I would highly recommend -- it's just beautiful!). Now that we moved to GA this summer, that is a much farther trip. But we will be at WDW 11/24 - 12/3! :mickey: DH and I spent last Christmas at WDW.

This year we are very lucky that my whole immediate family is getting together at my parents' house in TX for Christmas! When we have been able to be together for Christmas, we always go to mass on Christmas Eve, then out to a nice dinner, then home to watch a Christmas movie and finish up any last-minute gift wrapping. We get up early on Christmas Day, open presents and stockings, have a great breakfast, and then just relax the rest of the day. I can't wait. :santa3:

[jdcastle]

My holiday routine changes much from year to year, but the one thing that always holds true for me is Thanksgiving night. My family gathers and watches "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase. I absolutely love watching this movie each year, and it really puts me in the Christmas spirit.

[JessicaRabbit]

but is pretty low-key here. It is just me, DH our 3 kids and my folks (DH's family has a huge gathering, but my folks have no one else as my only other sibling is in AZ and doesn't come east for the holidays). We always start with the Macy's parade and I begin cooking early.

We split the cooking - my father cooks the turkey outside on the grill (great smokey flavor!), I do desserts, potatoes, vegetables and home-made bread and my Mom provides the rest (including the table- we all live in the same house - but my folks part is separate and our house is very old - built in 1792 so it is drafty - my folks addition is new and very cozy). We watch "Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving" right after dinner - our dinner is early (around 2:00 p.m.) so we ALWAYS have turkey sandwiches around 8:00 p.m. and we watch "Home Alone" - DH and his Mom used to watch this after Thanksgiving dinner before we got married and we just continued this tradition - my kids have the DVD out already on top of the TV - so they enjoy it too!

After Thanksgiving, the radio station that plays all Christmas music will play constantly in our house - every one LOVES this - there is something about hearing these songs that puts everyone in a festive mood. We break out the Christmas Advent calendar and some fireplace mantle decorations on December 1st and then the rest of the decorations go up when we get our live tree (usually around the 10th).

Christmas celebrations here are equally low key - again mostly just the 7 of us - I host Christmas Eve dinner for us and my MIL and FIL also join us - very simple meal - Scotch Barley Soup (recipe from WDW Rose and Crown Pub - I start it in the afternoon so it slow-cooks until evening) with home-made bread, chocolate-bread pudding and pumpkin pie for dessert. I also make "english muffin pizzas" for the kids (what my brother and I traditionally requested for Christmas Eve when we were little). Depending on the time (sometimes the inlaws stay late, sometimes they leave early) we will attend a "candle and carol" service at a local church and then drive around and look at the Christmas lights (complete with a thermos of cocoa). Then the kids are allowed to open one present that is under the tree - we hang stockings, read the Night Before Christmas (this year my 7 year old volunteered to read it for the first time!) and then off to bed for the kids (and several hours later for DH and I :secret:). I also LOVE watching "24 hours of a Christmas Story" every Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning starts EARLY - the kids are known for getting us up around 4-5:00 a.m. (3:00 a.m. a few years ago when there was a flying squirrel in the Christmas tree!) The first child up turns on the Christmas lights and as soon as the rest of us are up we pour coffee and orange juice and go into the living room and the kids open their presents - we then go into my folks addition and exchange presents there - then we have a huge Christmas breakfast - complete with Santa Pancakes (whipped cream for beard!). We then stay in our pjs until the afternoon and then get dressed and go to MIL and FIL's house to visit for a couple of hours (the last few years we didn't do this because we've been sick :(). We then have Christmas dinner late in the evening with my folks and then we just relax. The kids usually go to bed early on Christmas night so DH and I close out the day watching Christmas Vacation.