Share your Christmas Traditions

[Rowan]

Since I have only shared Christmas with my parents and sister once in the last 18 years and don't have a family of my own I would like to vicariously experience your family's traditions at Christmas for anyone who would care to share their memories.:D ...please?


http://members.tripod.com/~cod104/xmas/fireplace.gif


I'll be home for Christmas
You can count on me
Please have snow and mistletoe
and presents on the tree

Christmas Eve will find me
Where the love light gleams
I'll be home for Christmas
If only in my dreams

[gmd3d]

Rowan can't say that we have many Christmas traditions in our house, But it is the one time of the year the we all spend time at the dinner table, as we did as kids. even my younger brother would spend the time making small talk while eating then after dinner vanish out with friend for a few drinks (a couple of barrels really).

[Muffit]

Rowan, we usually like to put on Christmas music :music: and decorate the tree, while munching on Mystic Mint cookies. Although I have gotten lazy in my old age :) so I let my family decorate it now. But I did put up lights outside and inside.

Hmm.. traditions? Well, being a daggit, I usually urinate once or twice on the tree, just to make sure no other daggits steal my presents... :LOL:

xmasmuffit

(Actually, NO one wants my presents after that :D)

[BST]

Hmm, what do we do? Well, for starters we prepare ourselves to gain weight. It happens, no matter how much we try to prevent it. For Christmas Eve dinner, we abstain from meat and follow the tradition of the Feast of the Seven Fish (although we haven't quite reached 7 fish yet). ;) We have Bacalai in a tomato base with carrots,onion, and celery; fried smelt; fried pollock; and spaghetti with anchovies. No sauce but yes, anchovies. ( Use about 3 cans of anchovies for every 2 pounds of spaghetti and saute the anchovies; drain the spaghetti noodles; then, mix the anchovies including the oil, with the spaghetti noodles.) It's a bit salty but, oh how I love it. btw, I can't stomach anchovies on pizza.
We do have some non-fish eating folks and we provide pasta and meatballs for them. Also, we have a few side dishes, bread, salad,etc.

After dinner, we retire to the game room and open presents. It's pandemonium! For the little ones, we usually hide a few gifts (because Santa is bringing those) and put them under the tree after they have set out a treat for Santa and gone to bed.

Christmas Day, we have a feast - my mom loves to cook for an army so, we have turkey, ham, pasta, sides and salads. And loads of nut, poppyseed, and apricot rolls!!

All in all, we just love being together - that is most cherished present of all. We recall the happy and sad times of the past year and hope for the best in the upcoming year.

Thanks for this thread, lil sis! :heart:

Merry Christmas to All !!

[julix]

bst ...
you have to be Italian or part Italian...yes???because my family does the backala too and it is a long-standing italian tradition. Lost of seafood the night of Christmas Eve for us...but I am one of those who does eat seafood so my grandma(the most wonderful) always made the spagetti with the marinara for me and some of the other grandkids. I have wonderful memories from childhood of family getting together and lots of eating and yelling just like how italian families are portrayed(except for the mafia) with lots of emotion and passion and fights and then hugs...etc. I wouldn't trade it...they do tend to drive me crazy but I guess that is part of it too. For now, the one tradition we have with the kids is to play christmas music while we drink hot chocolate and decorate the tree. we also have a night when we drive around the neighborhood and see the lights.

[BST]

julix,

Yes. 1/2 Italian; 1/2 German, Scotch-Irish. :)

BST :)

[julix]

julix,

Yes. 1/2 Italian; 1/2 German, Scotch-Irish. :)

BST :)



I am half-italian and half spanish!!!!!!

[Eric Paddon]

An annual tradition that is now 20 years old in my family continues tomorrow with a trip to New York to attend the Sunday before Christmas service at St. Thomas Church on 5th Avenue where a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols are presented featuring their Men and Boy Choir, one of the most renowned in the country.

On Tuesday night, another Christmas in New York tradition continues with my tenth straight participation in an audience sing of Handel's Messiah at Lincoln Center. It is always wonderful to see so many attend and take part in this each year.

[Dawg]

I'm an American.

;)

I am
Dawg
:warrior:

[Muffit]

I am half-italian and half spanish!!!!!!

I'm half retriever and half chihuahua!!! :woof: --> :muffit:

[julix]

I'm half retriever and half chihuahua!!! :woof: --> :muffit:


:LOL: :LOL: :LOL: :LOL: but you are all wonderful!!!!

[bsg1fan1975]

Ok heres one of my family traditions that was handed down from our late Irish granny. In my family on Christmas Eve, the children in our family are allowed to open just one gift that night. It started as a bribe attempt to get us to bed so that Santa would come quicker. My sister continues the tradition with her kids and my older brother used it with his ex-wife's grandchildren and when I have kids I will do that with them.

Another tradition we used to do when I lived with my parents was we always decorated the tree together. Mom and Dad set up the tree and strung the lights and then we kids put the ornaments on the tree, I often had to help my baby sister when she was younger with reaching the top branches, as Dad did the job of checking to see where there was spots that needed an ornament or two. Mom and I used to put the garland on last as Dad did minor readjustments to lights or the garland.

I'm sure that my dad is going to inspect my handiwork Saturday with my tree and tell me where I could have covered something or added something.