What Are Your Christmas Traditions?

General
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Human's love traditions, especially for holidays. What are your favorite traditions at Christmas? Do you bake something special? Watch a special flick? Shop? Ice skate?

My husband and I love to make and light luminarias/farolitios. I will use both as there is an age old argument on what they are called. Yes, my husband and I also argue. (I am right, by the way). Anyway, we love to make luminarias on Christmas Eve Day. We do it the old fashion way of taking a brown paper bag, putting a few scoops of sand and adding a candle. We make a dozen or so for home. If the weather is warm enough, we take luminarias to the graveyards and place one on each of our loved one's grave.

There is quite a party at the graveyard on Christmas Eve. Families cook meals on bbq grills and have lights from generators as they light their luminarias. It's a different scene for sure. Sometimes I will cook enchaladas on Christmas Eve like my mom did. Sometimes I will get tamales. And I always green chile stew simmering for anyone who stops by.

We also love to watch the children at our church sing! They are so proud and happy!

Oh and I love to decorate some of the furniture with fresh cut ever greens. It's so simple and looks and smells fab!

Christmas Day is sometimes a roast or turkey. Then we try to get out of the house on a drive up north or down south.

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Hi Graveyardnerd,

Turkey, has to be turkey for my son, it's his birthday, so turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn and broccoli. German chocolate cake, pumpkin pie and all types of candy and cookies. I baked the other day for about 11 hours, still have the cake to bake. He is especially fond of 'turtles'candy. Pecans, caramel milk chocolate. Christmas eve was the traditional celebration growing up, but because of my son's work schedule, I told him I can have Christmas for him any day, so this one will be the 22nd.

We live in a cottage, so a big tree is impossible unless you move out a large piece of furniture, so I have the tall thin trees that are on a back wall of the LR on opposite sides of the sofa table, where my beautiful angel sits, behind the sofa. There is also a small tree on the server in the DR and a little bitty one on the kitchen counter and one in the bathroom.

I do a christmas scene on the top of the tv armoire, with carolers and a sleigh and reindeer, lights and greenery and icy branches cover the surface. On top of the LR cupboard are Mr & Mrs Santa sitting on a bench, this has greenery and lights. The bookcases my husband made me in the LR are decorated with beads, bulbs, and various trinkets, and contain photos of all of the kids.

The hall cupboard is trimmed with colored lights and greenery, there are christmas glass balls in crystal bowls, greenery, pinecones, and the bead garland is through out the inside. The hall banisters are decorated with greenery and colored lights. A pinecone garland is over the mirror with with lights, this is over the server, with a tree. The colored lights are at the request of my grandson who helped me decorate this year.

Dinner begins with a prayer, remembering the true meaning of Christmas, remembering our loves ones who have passed, and remembering our troops and their families, with warm wishes to mankind, hopes of peace and prosperity.

Sending my warmest wishes for you Christmas, or any other religious holiday that you will be celebrating.

SK

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Aww nice! Thank you for sharing that nice essay!

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Oh I know, I write the never ending sentence, and the essay everytime! ha!

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Can I come to your house for Christmas? Pretty please! Sounds wonderful and I know it is filled with love that makes it all the more wonderful. Merry Christmas, SK.

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Mb you took the words right out of my mouth… I figure if I leave on the 21, I will make it there just in time for dinner…

This Christmas Eve will be a very special tradition… We all will be so grateful to continue, every year for the past 10 years we drive to my brothers who lives an hr &. 1/2 away, it’s so special this year because it will be the first time we are all together since May this year, because on may 12 th my brother got the call to get to Columbia hospital in New York City, where he under went a bilateral lung transplant ( god is good ) he was only on the list for 8 weeks, a benefit on May 5 th raised $40,000. As he and his wife and 4 children needed to be able to get through this year. I have only seen him once in Aug,
So our special Christmas Eve celebration will be so special !! I pray everyone is healthy enough to go, as he can not be around anyone with even a sniffle
My baby brother, who was born with CF, has a new lease on life, so this Christmas Eve tradition will be by far the most cherished of all !!
God bless
& hugs

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Thank you so much for sharing. What a blessed Christmas for sure! Wow, the Lord opened doors for your brother. My prayers for you and your's for a wonderful Christmas! And prayers for excellent health.

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Oh dee, so glad for you! I am always amazed at what modern medicine can do! So glad he is well and you will all be together!

You know, we used to have so many people at these dinners we paid guys to move out furniture to bring in banquet tables, and it was too much for me! I came close to a melt down the last big dinner we had, so I can have multiple ones if you want to come, how's that?

We just finished washing all the China and glasses, so we are getting there! Whew, that means going the attic, being on my hands and knees getting out plates and bowls, instant backache!

Who needs yoga?

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thanks MB!

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Ooh, I love christmas traditions!

This year, we'll be visiting my grandparents, so... slight change of tradition this year, but usually:

I'll visit my parents and we'll usually go on a long walk through the snow on the 24th, usually around morning or noon. After that, it's my brother's and my "duty" to decorate the tree.

the afternoon is spent with board or card games with the family (us 4) and cookies XD

For dinner, we either have a raclette, go to a chinese restaurant or do it REALLY traditionally with german christmas eve food... weiner sausages and potatoe salad (not kidding XD christmas eve is "poor people's food" kinda meal) then, my mom will prepare the presents and we wait until we hear her ring the bell and then the opening of the presents *u*

We don't have that many traditions aside from that, but the main few things are: We kids decorate the tree, mom plays "Christkind" (christ child, instead of santa claus) and arranges the presents and if the weather is not too wet, we'll have a long walk.

christmas day (25/26th) is... usually just spent relaxing, having awesome food and binging on cookies, sweets and in general... food, and enjoying your presents.

A few days into the new year, we invite over my parents' friends and they'll start from one house to go "christmas tree praising". which.. is in general an excuse to go to each of their houses, look at their trees and get horribly drunk every time someone says "oh, it's such a pretty/beautiful/amazing/sparkly/whatever tree" XD

If I'm around during that time, i'll usually have the part of driving, since I don't drink alcohol at all.

I love christmas.

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Dwaggie, Thank you ! Sounds like a busy and joyous time. Snow?? WE MIGHT get snow here today, yes even on my side of town which is sand dunes and desert! It is actually raining here this morning. How fun to go look at Christmas trees! I like to drive around looking at outside lights. And I shared the graveyard story on Christmas Eve.