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It's a Family Tradition

Growing up around the holidays in my home was so much fun. We had a huge family Thanksgiving and on the Friday after we'd have leftovers. It was the best! 

After we'd have the big leftover lunch, my dad would drag out the fake Christmas tree that was tied together with twine and the big box of ornaments while my mama made cookies and apple cider. The Chipmunks along with Frank and Dean sang throughout the house those amazing old Christmas songs. 

It'd take us at least an hour to sort the branches of the tree by the rubbed off colors that were painted on the wire stems. Then we had to plug those in while fluffing them. It'd take another hour just to do that. Then came the lights! Of course they were all balled up and we had to untangle them to plug them in and find the ONE bulb that was out so we could replace it so the rest would work. After we finally got the lights on and the ornaments on, dad put on the angel. The very last thing we did was take a family photo. 

It seemed like a lot of work, but it was making fun memories of fighting, arguing and me saying how different I'd do it when I grew up. 

Throughout the years, the same tradition took place. It was awesome. Of course when I had children, I knew we had to continue it. And we do! 

Now that my boys are grown, they still get excited about going to Granny and Grandaddy's to put up the tree. I'm huge on family traditions throughout the year and I'm beyond thrilled my grown children are just as much into it as I am.


We are missing a couple of grandchildren this year due to work but there's still plenty of family traditions to go!

What is one tradition you used to do or do now? 
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61 comments:

  1. We usually gather at the home of one of the children and exchange gifts and enjoy each other's company. The trip may be too much for my husband this year. It isn't far, but he still isn't very well.

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  2. I started this with my daughters and they do it now for my grandsons. They get a Christmas Eve box with new pjs, movie, book and snacks. That's how Christmas Eve is spent!
    Happy Holidays Tonya! valeriek217@yahoo.com

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  3. We decorate the whole house including my son's huge Christmas Village and drive around to see all the Christmas lights. Then we watch Chris movies or cartoons.

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  4. We gathered as a family to make cookies for everyone, it was so much fun 😁 When my mom passed away we stopped and I miss it !

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  5. Our Christmas traditions seem to vary as time as gone by, additions of son in laws and grand children and loss of grandparents but spending time with family is a very important part of our Christmas. dbahn(at)iw(dot)net

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  6. We usually bake cookies for our local pet foster Lilah's. It feels good to help raise funds to help all of the fur babies.

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  7. After Thanksgiving was watch at least one Christmas movie a night. My whole family comes to my house Christmas Eve. We exchange gifts and have a huge assortment of food. We play games and enjoy each other's company.

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  8. We always put our tree up on Thanksgiving night, we have set ornaments that go up every year...a donkey I painted in elementary school, a couple of ornaments from Rick's childhood, Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and dolphin and camera ornaments for me...Pez for him...a raggedy ann and andy for mom ;-) and a special ornament for my angel fur-daughter Turbo. On Christmas eve we open one gift and then Christmas day...the new one is Rick "tortures" me in making me wait before we open our gifts to each other and the fur babies...my newer tradition is having a Christmas lunch and mom and mammaw come over to open their gifts and later in the day, my brother, niece and nephew come to open theirs (schedules prevent them all being here at the same time). It the little moments of seeing smiles on their faces that make my heart smile and beautiful memories.

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  9. I don't have one now but as kids we (all the cousins, aunts, uncles, ect) would gather at someones house Christmas eve and eat dinner and open presents then go to midnight mass. nerdsrgood AT msn FOT com

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  10. We go to my sister's house for Christmas and watch her young grandchildren open presents.
    sandybar57@msn.com

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  11. When I was a kid we used to go to my Aunt's every year on Christmas morning.
    sgiden at verizon(.)net

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  12. A tradition has always been for the man of the household to put up the tree. Now, my twenty-seven year old son does it. There is pride to it, whether we go with a real or an artificial tree that year.
    Also, we like to all be together when we decorate the tree. It has always been that way. Many times this would happen on Thanksgiving, but not always. I remember the days of tinsel... Oh, how I loved tinsel!!! Unfortunately, my cats did too. That's the only thing I miss that we used to have.

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  13. A tradition has always been for the man of the household to put up the tree. Now, my twenty-seven year old son does it. There is pride to it, whether we go with a real or an artificial tree that year.
    Also, we like to all be together when we decorate the tree. It has always been that way. Many times this would happen on Thanksgiving, but not always. I remember the days of tinsel... Oh, how I loved tinsel!!! Unfortunately, my cats did too. That's the only thing I miss that we used to have.

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  14. I live alone now. Family had all moved away. But I still enjoy listening to Christmas music even if I am just cleaning house. There is radio station that plays it on my tv year aground.

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  15. I live alone now. Family had all moved away. But I still enjoy listening to Christmas music even if I am just cleaning house. There is radio station that plays it on my tv year aground.

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  16. I will spend Christmas with my Son & his Family in Chicago & then we will go to N. Aurora, Ill. to spend the day at our Nieces with the rest of the family. lindamay4852@yahoo.com

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  17. I will spend Christmas home with my husband. It will be the first Christmas without my Mom

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  18. We like to decorate our tree on the day after Thanksgiving.
    suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

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  19. We celebrate Sinterklaas Day. Wooden shoes are placed at the door with treats for Sinterklaas's horse. In the morning the children (now our Granddaughter) wake up to see what Sinterklaas left. We have strived to separate the secular Santa from the Christian celebration and that has worked well. On Christmas day we have a small Happy Birthday Jesus cake. I suspect my parents did this as they were immigrants and it is one tradition from the Netherlands. servedogmom@yahoo.com

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  20. We love to bake lots of cookies and divvy them up. lkleback@hotmail.com

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  21. The kids and I always put the tree up Thanksgiving weekend and watch Elf while we do it! ❤️
    Monica VanBeekum.

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  22. Growing up we always got new pjs and nightgowns in the one gift we opened on Christmas Eve. I continued the tradition for a long time with nieces and my husband. Now, the one tradition my husband and I started after family all moved across country was Christmas Eve dinner at our favorite restaurant. Afterwards we grab a latte from Starbuck's and travel around seeing all the Christmas decorations. One neighborhood dubbed Christmas Tree Lane goes all out with Mr. and Mrs. Claus available for photos, live music, and treats on sale to benefit the local high school. Even one year in the drizzle we headed out to enjoy the festivities. Merry Christmas, Tonya!
    kat8762@aol.com

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  23. we have Christmas Eve dinner and then we have always opened our gifts on Christmas Eve after driving around looking at the neighborhood lights. after gifts we have our dessert and watch a Christmas movie.

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  24. On Christmas We Try to all get in our comfy jammies and Read The Night Before Christmas and The Kids open one present. Then we watch A Christmas Story or Home Alone something Like that

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    1. IDK if you need our email but iamabho (at) gmail (dot) com

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  25. Spending time with family. Thank you for this chance. areewekidding@yahoo.com

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  26. when the boys were little they had a hard time eating breakfast before presents, so they got to open their stockings first. We still do that today. mommatoodle at msn dot com

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  27. When my daughter was little I started doing Christmas breakfast for just the two of us. See her dad and I were divorced so she spent Christmas Eve with him and then we would go to my parents for the family dinner. I would fix breakfast and we would eat while she open her presents and played with Santa's gifts. I was time we could just relax and enjoy being home together.

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  28. A tradition in our house was that everyone got new pajamas for Christmas. Now we do it. I love all the memories 💜

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  29. We always put up the tree around December 19th, so we could leave it up for the twelve days of Xmas. We always had a live tree.
    marlene(dot)ezell(at)gmail(dot)com

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  30. One thing I do is make fancy Christmas aprons for the girls in the family.
    jwisley(at)aol(dot)com

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  31. I put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving and make Cinnamon Rolls for Breakfast on Christmas day.

    latifamorrisette@gmail.com

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  32. When I was younger and my grandparents were still alive we used to make popcorn strands go around the tree. Made homemade ornaments too using cookie cutters. Miss those days. firelily001 (at) gmail (dot) com

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  33. I sing in choir for Midnight Mass, after which we go home and have light snacks and champagne. On Christmas day we go to our daughter's house, where I cook dinner for 5 - 15 people, depending on who is around.

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    1. OOPS! Forgot my address: kkrack@seeschool.com

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  34. When we were younger, my dad would take the 3 of us (myself and 2 older brothers) to cut down the tree. Now that we are older, my dad still takes us 3 and our spouses and their children to cut down the family tree. The oldest grandson is the one who gets down and cuts it down. We take it to either my parents house or my brother's house and decorate it as a family and eat some food. This year is different. Mom is sick, so we aren't cutting down a tree, they are buying a small fake one. My brother has a fake tree at his house that we will be decorating soon.

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  35. Every year on Christmas Eve we pile into the car and drive around out little town and look at all the houses decorated for Christmas. We started this before my mom passed away and continue it to this day.

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  36. Wherever we are Christmas eve, we all take out our little golden books of twas the night before Christmas and skype or conference call all together and read it. We've done this since the kids were born (the first 36 years ago). I'm sad that this year may be the first we haven't done it since we'll be on the road but we will try and work it out.

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  37. We still celebrate Christmas Eve with the Feast of the 7 fishes. We take Luci in the car to find the best Christmas light displays and drink hot chocolate ... she loves this!

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  38. We always had a live tree until my oldest child went to college. We decided her first year that we would switch to an artificial tree so that she could still be a part of the fun of decorating the tree! We also began putting our tree up at Thanksgiving for the same reason. Now, even though both of my children are on their own, they still come home for Thanksgiving and we still put up our tree early usually with The Christmas Story playing in the background. Merry Christmas to you and yours, Tonya!

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  39. We always decorate the Christmas tree together. We also have a few nights where we sit down together and watch our favorite Christmas movies.

    haleyrscully(at)gmail(dot)com

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  40. As a child we got to open one gift on Christmas eve...it was always pajamas! (always) Matching pajamas! lol
    Main3 (at)att(dot)net

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  41. When I was a kid, the weekend after Thanksgiving we'd all go to get the tree, Dad would put it up, and Mom and us kids would decorate it. Dad would always put the angel on top.

    Then on Christmas Eve, us kids got to open one present, we'd all go to Midnight Mass, come home and have hot chocolate and Christmas cookies and open one more present before bed. Christmas Day, we'd spend the whole day together, eating, talking, and playing with our new toys. Boy, do I miss this!

    Thanks for the giveaway. jgeiger1955@gmail.com

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  42. My mom used to let the grandkids decorate her "Charlie brown tree". So it was only decorated as far as they could reach. My 5 year old granddaughter decorated my tree this year, so all the ornaments are in a 12 inch circle at her eye height!😅

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  43. going to church on xmas eve.

    parkeremma2003 at yahoo dot com

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  44. The family would get together, but people move away or have other problems. I miss the old times.
    r.d1@myfairpoint.net

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  45. We always put up Christmas tree after Thanksgiving dinner and enjoy the Christmas season til Orthodox Christmas in January

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  46. We put up the tree Thanksgiving weekend and take it down New Year's Day. Gift giving on Christmas Eve.

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  47. Hung the stockings at the end of our beds

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  48. My sister and her family, as well as my uncle and his family will come to our house for Christmas. Before they arrive, we will put up the Christmas tree, decorate the house, and prepare the food. (Mom hasn't been feeling well so we haven't been doing the whole Christmas celebration in the past 2 years. It has been small gathering and not the whole nine yards. Maybe this year....)

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    1. I forgot my email... myrifraf (at) gmail (dot) com
      Thank you

      Delete
  49. We always had a real tree but fought over the different light and I always loved the old timey bubble lights. My sister always wanted snow and icicles hung on the tree and we both wanted to hang the angel at the top. My Grandmother always made hot chocolate in a pot for us while we and Dad put up all the decorations. It was a lot of fun...then we drove around and looked at Christmas lights on other peoples houses...
    Marilyn ewatvess@yahoo.com

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  50. I remember being so excited about getting an orange and nuts for Christmas. There was 5 of us and things were very tight. Any small thing was a miracle to us.

    rbauldree2001@yahoo.com

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  51. We all like to gather around to decorate the tree too. Traditions are very important.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  52. We all go to church then we all get together after that and eat and open presents. Our family is growing so it is so chaotic but so fun.

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  53. Every Thanksgiving weekend we kick off the season by watching Christmas Vacation.Hokey but fun!

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