Havin family and friends around and gettin lots of prezzies

Delivering baked foods to my friends and neighbors.

Putting up the Christmas tree on the 1st of December. Each year each family member picks out a new Christmas ornament. So in years to come we will have a box of special ornaments, that we can say was from a particular Christmas for a family member. It is better than having a tree with just baubles on it. Even the dog has his own ornament!

Doing away with the "healthy eating plan" and indulging guiltlessly throughout one whole day of the year...... which can, of course, lead through to Boxing Day!

Lighting the candles of the Christmas pyramid and looking at it for a few minutes.

I enjoy decorating the tree with all the special ornaments that we've been given over the years. Each one has a special memory for me so I take my time and place them with care.

Breakfast at Christmas morning.

Taking the day after Christmas off.

For me the best part of Christmas is going to midnight mass and singing with my choir. It really puts into perspective what the holiday is really about.

Gathering with family and friends on Boxing Day - my birthday - and enjoy the 16 kg turkey, a glass of good wine and above all each others company.
It's been going on for more than a decade.

Having our Italian favorite Christmas Lasagne dinner after saying a thankful prayer that is overlooked at other dinners.

I've always loved a lighted Christmas tree. Every year, after the tree is decorated, I go outside and stand in front of the window to enjoy the view. Since I was a kid, a tree in the window-to me-communicates a warm and welcome feeling. It just says "home."

My dad and I always dress up like little santa's, taking a car trip to all our family and friends around town wishing them a Merry Xmas! We usually get a piece of turkey at each house, making mom so happy when we return fully stuffed.

have good years

lucindalane, I do the same thing...so nice!

One thing that annoys me...each year I test all the lights before putting them on the tree. This year...again...there's a strand of lights that went out. I realize at this point, almost New Year's, it's not that big of a deal. We're having people here for New Year's Eve, and the bottom part of the tree will look kind of dim.

chloebud, sometimes the reason the lights go out, is that the small fuses housed in the plug are burnt out. They can be replaced easily. Very very small tube fuses at most stores

Another might be that one bulb is broken in the string. That just happened to one of my light strings.

Quiet, soulful times at home with candles, hot chocolate, old movies.

May I modify my answer? I can't believe I forgot this. My FAVORITE tradition is driving around (I take my 88 year-old mother with me) to the nearby villages/cities to look at Christmas lights. We've been doing this for years, returning to our "favorite" houses over and over. We are lucky to have a few very special places, including a small chapel on the lake where they house a large donated antique European nativity scene. We especially enjoy the uniquely decorated homes. This year a nearby house displayed a 'lit' owl tucked into the branches of a tree covered in white fairy lights. Today is New Year's eve, and Mom and I will go out one more time tonight.

Lovely traditions. bquay reminded me one of my many traditions that I enjoy is seeing the christmas lights in the city stores. This year, I was fortunate to visit three major cities and view their amazing displays after the shops closed. It is quite magical walking around a city late at night and just admiring the work that has gone into the storylines and displays.

I have three sons and each one has a little tree in his bedroom. Every year, they get to pick one ornament off our big family tree downstairs and move it to their tree. That way, when they graduate from college, my sons will have at least 22 ornaments to place on their own tree. I label each ornament with the age of the boy who picked it and place them in a special box with the boy's name on it. They love the tradition and they get to see all the ornaments they chose as they drift off the sleep every Christmas season.

My favorite is when my hubby and our boys go out and make a day of putting up outside Christmas lights! I love driving up to a classy lit home...so welcoming. My second favorite is making Christmas candies for teachers, friends, and the family. They all enjoys the goodies which keeps the insanity going =)

Christmas Eve dinner with my mother's china (how many Christmases?) and the good silver and crystal, candle light, flaming plum pudding and hard sauce for dessert (make a wish for the new year!), and Christmas crackers. I buy them and then carefully untie one end so I can stuff them with really nice surprises and toys. The sight of my family wearing paper hats, laughing at riddles, and playing with silly toys and puzzles at the table is such a joy.

We have a favorite newer tradition, starting about 4 years ago. After one particularly hectic Christmas, my daughter and I were bemoaning how we were all (7 people) under the same roof, but it didn't seem like we "visited and conversed" as a family. Too many distractions with cooking, dishes, etc. The following year, I bought 7 silly gifts (all under $3.00) and wrapped them extra nice. Then I made 7 bingo sheets (using sturdy matte finish 8" x 10" photo paper) with family photos in lieu of numbers, for example, instead of "B-5", we would call out "B-Uncle Joe". I included beloved family photos of those who have passed on, too, like my mom, dad, and grandmother, but made sure they were all photos from Christmases past.

When someone gets "Bingo", they choose a gift, and on it goes until all 7 gifts are taken from the "pool". By luck, some will have 3 gifts, and some may have none. Of course, we all make a big fuss (playfully) over the 1 package everyone seems to want. Then we go for blackout. The 1st person to blackout "steals" a gift that has already been taken, and so on around the table until everyone has blacked out. Then grandfather pulls out a note that corresponds to numbers on the packages. We all have to give up the gift to the corresponding person, i.e., "Who has #5?" "Susie does." "Well, that belongs to John." Ergo, all the gifts ultimately go to the rightful person, and everyone has a gift.

Result? We have family game time to laugh, joke, interact and just slow down the craziness. We have expanded it to Thanksgiving, now, changing the photos to that holiday. We just reuse the game cards year-after-year.

Following in a tradition my mother started, I hang a tree upside down over the kitchen table. It hangs from a beam and is decorated in a variety of red ornaments and elves. It always brings a smile!

Heidi Overpeck, I love that. I forgot, That reminds of what I have done for many years. I give my kids and spouses and niece new ornaments every year on their gifts. I only choose ornaments that have a meaning or are their favorite color. That has been the only way they have built their collection. They have a lot by now.

ddelora, I love your creativity to get your family to interact. Great idea and so clever! Loved reading the ingenuity into creating the game.

On the night before Thanksgiving, while all is a flutter, we bring out the ornaments and all kinds of clutter. After eating pizza and prepping for Turkey Day, we ornament our tree and put out our Christmas display. Nothing gets lit . . . except me with my wine, but I spend a special evening with my daughter and we have a fine time! Then off to bed because it's early we rise to cook our Thanksgiving Dinner which will end with pies. Before stuffing our faces and bellies beyond reason, we give thanks for our lives and the upcoming season. Then too quickly it seems the day has passed and the Christmas Season is upon us again, at last. So with a moment of reflection we both agree, it's time to light our Christmas tree!

Love your poem and tradition jillybean!!!

Since my oldest niece started driving, about ten years ago, she would come to our house on Christmas Eve after making all of her other family rounds. We would always have The Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas DVD playing and have homemade Mexican Cocoa; exchange gifts, then go to my uncle's for the family Christmas party. Generations of cousins, 70-80+ people each year. Well, my husband and I separated and divorced four years ago. However, we found a way to keep our tradition. Alicia still goes to the house first, to see her uncle and pick up my daughter, Lara. Then the girls come to my apartment for the Trans Siberian Orchestra and homemade cocoa. I changed up the cocoa the first year here (had been separated two months), literally had the Charlie Brown Christmas tree, exchanged gifts went to the party...it was my only time to be with my daughter that Christmas. So here we are, four years later....the family party has been moved to the Saturday before Christmas. We carry on our tradition on Christmas Eve, my brother and younger niece also come over, a casual meal is served, in addition to the Original Cocoa. It is absolutely wonderful. Our immediate family is small, just the five of us, but we are together Christmas Eve and it thrills me. I know Mama is smiling down on us, that my brother and I are making the effort to be together with our children (24-mine, 26 & 14-his). Even had a real tree the last two years!

This year's tree and our girls.

Everything, everything is a tradition for me! Taking the decorations out of the bins and being enamored with all of them once again and then decorating the house within an inch of its life! Putting the gifts under the tree on Christmas Eve then driving around the area looking at all the Christmas Lights (and getting lost in a subdivision we hadn't been in before!) Taking turns opening our gifts on Christmas Day. Boxing Day! I never work on Boxing Day! Thanksgiving, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day is what Traditions are all about! Thank you Houzz and everyone for suggestions, ideas, photos this past holiday season...Cheers!

Can I just add that the 'tradition' of putting all the Christmas stuff away is my LEAST favorite. I'm in the midst of it now...nothing fun about it.

Waiting for Santa with hot chocolate and butter sandwiches after Christmas Eve church service.

@Atlas Custom Cabinets: I have the exact same candle pyramid. Although the Germans call it something else. Picked mine up in Germany on one of our four tours of duty there. Sits in the middle of the decorated dining room table every Christmas.

@royalpayne: It is called Weihnachtspyramide which translates to Christmas pyramid. I am happy to hear that it gets to see the 'sunlight' every year :)

@Atlas Custome Cabinets, Thank you . You filled s small hole in my dwindling German memories.

Well, a bit late.... but, throwing the magic reindeer food in the yard, so Rudolph can find his way on Christmas eve. (A great mix of oats and iridescent sparkles/confetti) Also, taking a drive with family, especially when it's snowing, to look at Christmas lights/displays while playing Christmas music with the car window cracked just enough to feel that crisp winter air that I love so much. :) Happy new year! :)

Chinese and a movie.

We decorate our tree a week before Christmas - that is my birthday, and as my Mom could stand pine needles on the carpet for 2 weeks only, we always got the tree on my b'day, and she and I would take it down on New Year's while Dad and my bro were watching football. We usually invite someone over for dinner and "the ritual" - every ornament has a story, and I love to tell them as they go on the tree. Following soon afterwards, we invite "the grands" over to choose an ornament to take home. Soooo much fun seeing which ones they choose, and making sure they know the stories behind them.