With just 24 days left before Christmas, what are some of your holiday traditions? Mine start with Black Friday shopping. Then, I have to watch Rudolph (or it just isn't Christmas). The Saturday before Christmas is baking with my mother and sister in the morning and the neighborhood Christmas party in the evening.
What are some of your preparations/traditions leading up to Christmas?
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Every Thanksgiving we put up my grandmothers Christmas tree and all the kids Decorate it. And since this is a ten foot tree and i'm the only one who can use the chair i mostly decorate the top but the bottom gets done extreamly well. Our family always gets a real tree from plesant vally. Sarah just loves it i think its to cold but oh well. Then we always have to watch Santa Clause is comming to town. Its my dads favorite and me and sarah love the music. On christmas Eve we always go to the church serice. I actually like it because the music is fun and pretty. Then we go home and open ONE present. Sarah hates that rule. The next morning sarah gets up around 5 in the morning and gets everyone up. Evenyone else doesn't want to wake up so we just go to mom and dad's room and sleep together. It got harder to do when me and sarah got bigger. Then on Christmas day we open presents and after go the Grandmas for more presents. Then in januarey we go to our other grandmas for presents. Sarah is a joy around this holiday she is so excited and you could get her a pack of stickers and she'd be just as happy with that as she would be a new tv. She is just so funny.
ReplyDeleteThe day after Thanksgiving we go get our christmas tree. We usually wait a week to decorate it but this year we did it early. On December 6 (shoe day) we get an early visit from santa claus who brings us an advent calender a a little tiny present in our shoe. The story goes that saint nicholas will bring you something for your shoe if your good, but if you are a naughty child one of his helpers (called Black petes)will take you away in a sack. I usually try to do something christmasy every day until christmas! On xmas eve we get to open one present from one of our siblings. Then in the morning we have to wait till our parents are awake and have made coffee.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas now is different than the Christmas when I was little. Julie and Trent always came home from college for a couple of weeks. On Christmas eve, the whole family went to my grandpa's house in Elmwood and then to church in Menomonie. At 5:00am I woke them up with a Santa bell. There were large stockings for each of us and a christmas tree adorned with all of the ornaments we made including an angel made from a styrofoam cup and paper at the top. We opened stockings first, and then I passed out the presents as soon as my grandma arrived. Haha, you know this was a long time ago given the fact that my grandma could still drive and therefore think.
ReplyDeleteAfter the living room was scattered with remnents of wrapping paper and bows, we made orange juice, ate cake and lit candles for baby jesus's birthday.
Now my brother and sister don't always come home. My grandpa doesn't host Christmas, nor do we go to church. We no longer put up a Christmas tree; we decorate our hibiscus tree that is always in our living room with red flowers and white lights. I still open a stocking first, always consisting of food. (Last year I got brussel sprouts and oranges! haha)
The weekend after Thanksgiving we usually go to get our Christmas tree. The place we go is a lot of fun because you pick out the TOP of a 15 foot tree. So we pretty much cut down the giant tree just to take the top off. :) Usually that weekend or the weekend after I decorate the house with lights and garland and then my mom and sister decorate the tree. My dad usually decorates the barn with lights too within those couple weeks after Thanksgiving. On Christmas Eve, we usually go to my Aunt's house in Shelldon, but this year it's at my Grandma's. We usually go to mass that night too in Cook's Valley. On Christmas day we wake up, eat breakfast and feed the animals (and give them a special treat). Then when we get in we all open up presents (even Dusty and Smudge rip theirs open). After that is done, we go to my Grandma Moonen's house and eat amazing food and watch the little kids open presents. Then we come home and relax for the rest of the night. :)!
ReplyDeleteMy traditions have changed over the years because we have gotten older and my brother and sister have moved away, but I'll tell what we have done/do anyway.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, my whole family is always working during the Christmas season, of course because of Pleasant Valley, but that's what I've known all my years, so I'm use to it and it has become a tradition. We work every weekend, which really puts me in the Christmas spirit. We do always fine time to make lefse with my grandma and aunt on my dad’s side. We make a ton of lefse and decorate my grandma's tree. Sense we're older and we can't find time to go get a tree together my mom and dad just go cut one down in the field. We decorate it at night. My mom and I always have to try to find time to decorate the house. We deck our house out with Christmas decorations. I love it. It's been a tradition that my dad and I always put lights on the house. This year we did it the smart way. We put them up in the beginning of November on a 60 degree day. We always have to find some time to go Christmas shopping; it’s usually the week of Christmas because that's when the tree farm is slower. We do always get our shopping done though. Saint Nicholas always visits us early too because we are such good kids :) We always get a little piece of candy in our shoe or next to our bedroom door. When we were younger, on Christmas Eve we would go to church and then come home and open presents and eat supper. Christmas day we would wake up and open our stocking stuffers and then eat caramel rolls. Later that day we would go to my grandparents. But as we have gotten older, it’s changed. We still go to church on Christmas Eve but everything else is up in the air because my brother doesn't know when he will be home because he goes up to his fiancé’s family for Christmas. Also, my grandma is too old to have Christmas at her house anymore so we usually have my dad’s side to our house on Christmas Eve. Christmas day we still go up to my grandma's (mom’s side) and eat delicious food and have a jolly good time. My family is always very busy around Christmas time, and as we have gotten older traditions have died, but Christmas will always be my favorite holiday. I have such good memories of Christmas and I think it’s those memories that make me love Christmas. And I make new and better ones every Christmas :)
Christmas at my house is not a very large deal. We usually get the tree whenever we can and decorate it...whenever we can. The only other decorating we do is putting up a Nativity scene in our Bay window. We always make lefse sometime during December. On Christmas Eve we go to church and then to my Grandma's house with my Aunt and Uncle from Minneapolis. We sing carols and eat and open gifts. On Christmas Day, my Grandparents come over and we do whatever we feel like doing. The day after Christmas is my favorite day because my Grandma and I go shopping together. Then on New Years Eve we have a tiny little Christmas party with my great aunt and great Uncle. This year that might not happen because my Uncle, who has been in a wheelchair for over fifty years has been having health problems lately. We are planning on visiting him to cheer him up.
ReplyDeleteWell, my Christmas is really odd. When I was younger, I'd always help my grandma decorate the house. I'd help my grandpa with the tree. (That was my favorite part.) We always had a fake tree, but I'm hoping this year will be different.. My dad said we would get a tree the Scott family traditional way... You don't wanna know how that goes. (: On Christmas Eve, I get to open one present. It's usually something along the lines of soap or a tootsie roll bank. This year I hope it'll be something good! After all the presents are opened on Christmas, we usually just lay around and relax while my grandma makes dinner. My dad and I have a new tradition that we've been following for the past few years. We watch the Nightmare Before Christmas. (: It's our favorite Tim Burton movie.
ReplyDeleteWe start by getting our Christmas tree about a week into December. We decide where we are going to put it, then decorate it right away. We get all the Christmas decorations from the gradge and brgin putting them up around the house. Me and my sister usually get some lights to put in our rooms. One year, I took all the leftover decorations and put them in my room. It looked so cool and festive. Once my room is decorated, I turn on Feliz Navidad, because then just hearing that some automatically makes it feel like the holiday season has arrived. We always have Christmas music playing in the kitchen or the living room and it feels really cozy. We always build a fire on the cold nights if not every night. We always put up the countdown calender on the refigerator as well as watch Garfield Christmas. We go to La Crosse for christmas, but always have our own christmas, with a meal and presents. Each of us get a small gift at the start of the meal and have delicious pie afterwards. Its the most wonderful time of the year, and I cannot wait of the wonderful snow to come and we are all happy and jolly for the Christmas season!
ReplyDeleteBenjamin Mosey
Our Christmas traditions start on Black Friday. We all usually go do some Black Friday shopping. We don't normally get up super early or anything. But then on the Saturday after Thanksgiving we get our Christmas tree. It's not up yet this year, but normally that's when it goes up. Some years we have Christmas with my mom's side of the family on Thanksgiving as well since the family is already all together. Then we don't do much until we get to Christmas Eve. We usually go to church and then either go to my grandparents and eat or go home and they come to our house. That night we get to open one present. The next morning we get the rest of our stuff right away. Later that day we have the Christmas for my dad's side of the family. Sometimes if things don't work out do Christmas with one side of the family, we usually all get together or New Year's Day. Thats about all the stuff we do.
ReplyDeleteMrs. Myers, are you going to change my "Journal 11-12" grade online? Because I know I blogged and yeah.
ReplyDeleteWell, I don't have Christmas plans anymore.
But I used to go to my grandma's every Christmas afternoon with the whole family. It's overwhelming to be around 120946190 little kids, screaming and running around. I don't have any cousins my age to talk to, so I always feel left out and BORED out of my mind.
Anyway, I'm hoping to go to Sean's family's Christmas party, because I have before. His family is pretty funny, and his little sister always wears the cutest dresses.
I like to watch the old Christmas cartoons because it brings me back to my childhood. I love making sugar cookies and frosting them. Not kidding, it's my favorite kind of cookies in the world.
I don't enjoy the stress of gift exchanging though. I don't know what to get people, and sometimes I feel bad if I receive a gift but didn'to that person. It's sort of a waste of money, too.
We don't usually have that many Christmas traditions. All we do is put up our tree, arrange a manger scene on the piano, and watch a couple Christmas movies. We haven't put up our tree yet, but we will soon. We will watch A Christmas Story and Christmas Vacation. I usually try to avoid it, but my mothers hysterical laughter usually pulls me to where the movie is playing.
ReplyDeleteMy Christmas traditions begin the day after thanksgiving when my stepmom and my sisters put up our tree. I myself don't really do anything special for Christmas our than on Christmas day I get up and open presents at my house then go to both of my Grandma's houses and we eat and open presents. But my stepmom and her friends usually spend a whole day baking cookies for everyone in our family but I'm not sure if they still do because one of them moved to North Carolina. Other than that my family doesn't really do anything special but I think we are going to start because of my sisters and how much they LOVE Christmas.
ReplyDeleteMy christams traditions begin with me trying to find a station on the radio that doesnt play christmas music. usually i end up listening to 99.9 because Bob rarely plays Christmas music. around the begining of december my familly goes and buys a christmas tree from Tom. We almost always get a Balsam. my mom decorates our house with all of our other decorations. on Christmas day my familly goes to my grandmas house and opens presents. that is about all we do for Christmas.
ReplyDeleteThe day after Thanksgiving, my family has a cookie blitz. Generally this is something for those who aren’t brave enough to go Black Friday shopping to do. Anyway, we bake cookies all day and listen to Christmas music. At first it is a lot of fun, but the music gets annoying fast and, by the end of the day, you never want to see another cookie for a long, long time (mostly because we ‘accidentally’ break some of the cookies so we have to eat them). We put up our Christmas tree a few days after Thanksgiving. This year, though, we didn’t have to put up our tree as it has been up since last Christmas – decorations and all. And we usually will start watching Christmas movies a week or two before the actual holiday.
ReplyDeleteWell, there's always decorating for Christmas and picking the perfect tree, even though it's never the one I want. When we decorate the tree, we sometimes watch old christmas videos from when we were little. As it gets closer to Christmas my mom starts to make caramel, and we have christmas cookie days with each side of my family. While making cookies we always watch movies like the old Rudolph. We also break out our Bing Crosby cd, and my family tries to hide the Elvis cd from me. Usually Christmas Eve is at our house, but this year it's at my aunts lake house so we can ice skate :)
ReplyDeleteAfter thanksgiving is the first start of christmas. I have to watch christmas movies, and listen to christmas songs in order to have the Christmas feel. Christmas eve we go to my grandma's house with family, and we play cards and eat supper. We go home to bed and wake up and open presents in the morning, then we got o my grandma's house at noon for more food and cards. Christmas is just great! :) :)
ReplyDeletejenni Gust
I only really have one holiday tradition and that is work for my grandparents right after Thanksgiving to Christmas. I don't mind it too much, but it doesn't depress me when christmas is done. Besides that, I never really have had any traditions for any holidays. I wish i did, but I do go to my dad's every year on December 23 and stay over night and we have christmas the next day. Then I go home and go to church. After that I go to sleep and its christmas at home with lots of moms food! :)
ReplyDeleteTom