Christmas Traditions

Hello! Hope you're having a great Tuesday....{insert obligatory "Oh My Goodness, I can't believe that Christmas is two weeks from today..."}

Side note: Right now, my daughter is trying to coax the cat out from under the tree to read her a book....and just to make that clear, Maggie wants the cat to read HER a book.....LOL

Christmas traditions...there are many that a lot of families participate in, but then just about every family has traditions that are special for them.

On my Dad's side of the family, a couple of years ago we started a White Elephant exchange.  The first year, it was pretty tame because no one knew what to do, but then the jokesters of the family took over.  One year, someone brought a bunch of stuff from infomercials.  There have been silly games, crazy ties and a few re-gifted treasures....but for the most part, it is a Ravens free for all (my family is from MD).  There have been some really tense swaps trying to get the most prized Ravens item that year.
 

Mags hangs out with Unka Ben and Aunt Lauren during the White Elephant last year...

Then on my mom's side of the family, we have a big get together on Christmas Eve, where someone reads "The Night Before Christmas" and then Santa actually makes an appearance.  He comes with bells that he needs someone to ring and he hands out a few presents before he has to leave to get on the road.

Christmas Eve 2010

This is not Mags reaction to Santa, she had just lost her pacifier...LOL

And then on the hub's side, they have a couple of traditions....the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we all get together to help decorate the in laws house, and then we go out for Italian food (it used to be Olive Garden, but this year we went to a local Italian place, Toscana).

2010/2011

 

 

Sort of helping this year.....

The other big tradition they have is the 12 days of Elf presents.  This is Brian's grandmother, who loves Christmas so much, she needs to start giving presents weeks before.  It started when Brian was young, and he was told that it would end when he went to college, then it was when he got married, then we were told it would end when we had kids....we still got presents this year....LOL. 
We started giving Maggie her presents on Sunday, since we will be away for a couple of days....

Here's Mags opening her Elf present this morning...it was a Snoopy ornament with some peanut butter cups (I told her it was just an ornament....LOL....I do plan on letting her having the chocolate, I just didn't want her begging for them before breakfast.....LOL)

And then our little family tradition (which I think a lot of people do) is making sure to watch our favorite holiday movies.  So far we've watched Charlie Brown, "Elf", "Grinch", "Polar Express" and this Friday we have "Rudolph' on the schedule.  These movies remind us of fond childhood memories and we love being able to share them with Mags. 

 

So what are some holiday traditions you have with your family?
Have a great day!