As usual, I have no idea how the holiday season manages to fly by so quickly. I feel like we only just put our tree up (which we decorated before Thanksgiving), and now Christmas is only fourteen days out? Crazy!
Since the (albeit brief) falling snow yesterday evening, some Bing Crosby, and Christmas specials finally managed to get me into the Christmas spirit, I am in the mood to share some of my family's most favorite holiday traditions tonight!
My favorite day of the entire year is Christmas Eve.
On that day, my parents and I (and sometimes my brothers) visit the Krohn Conservatory's holiday display. The Krohn Conservatory features beautiful poinsettias, a breathtaking train display featuring Cincinnati, and even a live nativity outside.
That evening, my immediate family attends mass. I remember how long I used to think Christmas Eve mass was when I was little- it seemed to drag on for an eternity!
After church, we drive around and view all of our favorite light displays.
Then, once we arrive home, we begin our Christmas Eve FEAST.
Our feast doesn't feature an elegant ham or perfectly mashed potatoes. Instead, we enjoy all of our favorite appetizers from chicken wings to White Castles! We put on a Christmas movie and all relax in our most comfortable clothes while sipping from our glass bottles of Coke. It is so wonderfully laid back and peaceful.
The next morning, we usually wake up pretty early to open gifts before venturing off to my mom's side's Christmas brunch celebration.
This year though, we are not getting together with my mum's side. My cousin is getting married a few days after Christmas, and we will all get to see one another then :) My mom is one of 10 kids, and there are 30+ grandkids (in addition to numerous husbands, wives, significant others, bebes). It's a lot of people to round together!
My dad and I have taken it upon ourselves to organize a nice brunch for our immediate family this year. We will all sleep in late and then take out time opening gifts. It should actually be a really nice morning in comparison to our normal hustle and bustle!
Christmas evening, my family heads out to Indiana where my grandma and grandpa live.
There we eat an incredible Christmas dinner (ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc...yum) before going down to the basement where my grandparents have the most impressive display of gifts beneath their decades old tree.
Each year, we attempt to open "one at a time," but that only works for about 7 minutes or so.
While we are opening gifts (and especially after!), we drink hot cider and eat every kind of the dozen different cookies my grandma bakes. It's so cozy and delightful.
Sigh.
:)
What are your favorite holiday traditions? Does your family do anything out of the ordinary?
Ahh! Just listening to this post gets me all kinds of excited for Christmas:) I'm not sure what new traditions we'll start this year in our new place.. but I'm excited! I plan to make a big breakfast on Christmas morning after we open gifts and invite some family over, on Christmas eve we always do a Ham. That will be my job this year and I'm slighlty nervous, thankfully mom will be around to help;)
ReplyDeleteWow, that sounds wonderful to me!! This year, we are going to my mom's boyfriend's Christmas eve party. They really put on a nice night and are great hosts. Everything is so fancy! On Christmas, we are going over to Bill's parents house in them morning and exchanging gifts. Then we are headed over to my dad's house for a more casual Christmas. I can't wait. How could Christmas be soo soon!! Have you done your Christmas shopping yet?
ReplyDeleteI have been having a hard time getting in the holiday spirit this year but reading this post made me excited for the season (and being that I'm finally done with finals can't hurt either lol!) - love reading about your traditions! Because of whats going on in our family this year we're coming up with all sorts of new holiday traditions and I'm excited to see how they go!
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