Christmas Traditions

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On the Eleventh Day of Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me...

Christmas Traditions

In my family, Christmas has always been a big deal with Christmas Eve being the most important of the days. When I was very little Christmas always started about a week before when my great aunt flew in from Idaho. I remember as a very little girl (pre-9/11) going ot the airport early in the morning with my dad and grandma to pick her up at the gate. She stopped coming when I was still young but some of my earliest memories of Christmas are of those trips to the airport.

Like I said the most important day of the holidays was Christmas Eve. We would always go to my mother's parents' home for Christmas Eve. My grandma always made chili. After chili and cornbread with all the fixings we would sing Christmas carols, always ending iwth Silent Night for my grandma. After the singing (which no one was even the slightest bit good at), my grandfather would read the Christmas story out of a children's bible story book. Only once the singing and reading was over would we get to open presents. It was always our family, my grandparents, and the families of two of my mom's cousins. 

After we finished the Christmas Eve festivities at Grandma's house we would drive home, always taking the long way around to go look at Christmas lights. There is always the biggest and best display done by the Davison's Auto Parts store in McMinnville with a little merry-go-round and ferris wheel with Disney characters. After the christmas lights were all looked at we would go home, get in pajamas and take turns opening Christmas presents from each other. After presents we would go to bed. 

Like every other child in the world we would be up early on Christmas Day to see what was in our stockings and what the "Santa gift" would be. We always had one or two gifts from Santa as well as fully filled stockings with treats, bath items, socks and underwear. Later in the day we'd either go back to grandma's for Christmas dinner or we'd have the family over at ours for the big meal. When I was very little after Christmas presents at home from Santa we'd go to my dad's parents house for breakfast and presents with them. 

Those traditions happened until my grandma died and we became estranged from my grandfather adn the rest of that side of the family. Some traditions we continued like chili on Christmas Eve and presents after, looking at Christmas lights, and the big meal on Christmas Day but it was smaller with just immediate family. 

Now our holidays look even different. This is the first year that my family: me, my boyfriend, our son, and the dog; can't be there on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day itself because I work both nights. So in our new traditions we went out looking at Christmas lights on my days off. Then we decided to do a Christmas dinner of sorts tonight: Red Wine Cranberry Braised Short Ribs with Holiday Roasted Vegetables, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and Martinelli's Sparkling Cider (a peach one we found). We opened one present each: insulated wine tumblers for my boyfriend to use for eggnog or sparkling cider tonight or in the morning and a Matilda tote bag from Litographs for me. I also made a batch of blueberry muffins to take to work to share with my coworkers. In the morning when I get home I'm going to change into our matching family pajamas, we'll eat scones (we have a gingerbread scone mix) and have Christmas coffee (I have the Bones Coffee Holiday Sample Pack), and open presents before I get some sleep before my Christmas Day shift. 

So those are my family's traditions, new and old. Tomorrow there will be a short post for Christmas and then on to 2021!

Happy Reading!

Richelle