What is your family's favorite Christmas tradition? (page 3)

sacolton

Even though my wife is an active JW ... she'll find a few presents under the tree. She needs to know what she's missing out on.

Emma

Two:

The weekend after Thanksgiving we go out for Chinese food for lunch, pick out the tree, bring it home and set it up while eating Christmas cookies and drinking hot chocolate.

Christmas morning I make fresh, star-shaped biscuits, a big pot of coffee, apple wood smoked bacon, and we open our stockings. When the stocking stuffers have been opened, the youngest passes out gifts, one at a time.

LovesDubs

driving past others homes, knowing they are having a better time than me. Awwww Seeking...thats how I spent the 13 years as a JW...just tormented that the world was "going on without me" and I was miserable. I would watch people put up lights, and trees and see driveways full of cars where parties were happening, and watch couples shopping and it just ripped my heart out. Im sorry... :(

Witness 007

I love not getting any presents....not having a party....not having a family get together...these are my family traditions.....bahhhh humbug!

beksbks

driving past others homes, knowing they are having a better time than me.

Ohh Seeking! This sounds a lot like my Halloweens as a kid. I would sit in my room, in the dark (house had to be dark in the front so they woudn't come to the door) and watch all the kids in costume running around the neighborhood. It was always my favorite holiday, because in a small way I got to be in on it. Right now, I'm about to head out to the front porch and get my decorations up and then work on my costume!! We already have about 20 lbs of candy! Christmas, I go crazy. My kids are older now, but when they were little, we always had The Nutcracker going first thing in the morning, and just the lights from the tree on. They would come out in their little jammies with the feets in to The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies. Sweetest thing in the world. I always let them open one present on Christmas Eve, but I had to pick it out. Almost always the socks! Now if we are together, they insist on opening something on Christmas Eve, even though they know it's going to be those socks.

orangefatcat

Some of my fondest memories of Christmas as a young girl meant so much to me, being at grandma's and decorating a floor to ceiling tree (Blue Spruce from her home) (they were huge and smelt divine ) with every concievable decoration from hand made to store bought. The aroma of the kitchen and the hustle and bustle of grandma and my mom and aunts working feverishly in the kitchen to make the perfect feast. Every thing was decked out in the finest of china, and silver and wine glasses. Oh how I looked so forward to my little wine glass of Mogan David Concord Wine. We all had Christmas crackers and silly hats and cute little gifts in the crackers. Everyone was laughing and I would sit back and listen to all the noise and laughter. What bliss. It was just like peace on earth with the snow glistening you could see the snow it sparkled like shinning glass as the rays of the sun beams bounced of the snow. Your heart is welled with happiness and joy, hope, and peace and love. I often wished that Christmas was everyday.

On Christmas Eve we would go to Midnight mass at St. George's Anglican Church. We also had a beautiful pagenant every year. We sang Christmas Carols and hymns and prayed to God for all our blessings and especially for our saviour Jesus Christ being born. I could feel so peaceful and calm and feel as if the very spirit of some great energy overpowers me and even to this day since leaving the JW's I am again feeling this same sort of energy or spirit of complete calm over power me and sends sensations all through my body. That is as best I can describe it.

On Christmas day I would open my gifts up and thank all for their presents, then grandma and I would go to Christmas Day service's then after we come back to her home and then we would sit and watch our two favourite Christmas movies. Its a Wonderful Life, with Jimmy Steward, And then my favourite of all with Alister Sims 1951 version of A Christmas Carol. And then the entire family sat around grandmas' huge Duncan Phyfe table that had so many leafs in it it went clear across the room we had about 15/16 at that table. You could smell the pumkin pies, lemon merigune , and turkey and all the fixin's yummy yummy a feast fit for a King.

After celebrating the last Christmas (63) and thinking I would never ever celebrate it again I was crushed beyond belief. I hated it and I was heart broken for my grandma who now only had just two others in the family that weren't JW's . I know it made me sick inside out. I hated it . Our last Christmas tree was in 63 and little did I now that in 99 I would be free at last to do again that what meant so much to me, but without my grandma. And my great grandma. You see our Christmas' were quite Victorian in as my great grandparents lived in England when Victoria was Queen and so they lived their lives in that lifestyle and we grew up learning the rules and ediquette and our proper station in life. My other sisters don't remeber any of this as they were much younger than myself. But I thank God for having had those years growing up with the loves of my live. I have so many wonderful memories that I can cherish for my entire life.

But yet I still see in my mind vividly the colors and beauty of all the gorgeous vicotorin lace, tatting, petite point, crocheting and neddle point, and dollies. and the smells of the holiday seasons throughout the entire house and decked with boughs of holly and evergreen and my great grandma and grandpa's hugs and kisses. And they always spoiled me. They were the most beautiful couple in the world. Of course I know I partial as they were mine. But they were truly fantastic. They both passed away in 1960.

These are my favourtie Christmas traditions. I am eagerly awaiting advent and the countdown to Christmas and then the 12 days of Christmas which brings up the the Epiphany on January 6th.2009 that is when my tree comes down.

Epiphany

Source

is a Christian feast celebrating the arrival of the Magi (the Three Kings) in Bethlehem, the baptism of Jesus Christ, and other miracles. Epiphany ends the twelve days of Christmas. Epiphany was Sunday, January 06, 2008 this year. It is Tuesday, January 06, 2009 next year.

God bless us all one and all

Orangefatcat

What is your family's favorite Christmas tradition?