holiday

Trudy - Decorating and shopping on Thanksgiving weekend. …and I love watching Christmas shows…my all time fav….The Family Stone!

Julie - The day after Thanksgiving is the beginning of Christmas in our home. It starts with crazy early Black Friday shopping–even it’s only window shopping. After a morning filled with crowds and lines, I come home, show off my bargains to the hubs, give a snuggle to the kids, and then put a turkey in the oven. The bulk of my day is spent re-creating a traditional Thanksgiving meal, since we have the real deal at my mom’s house. After dinner we leave the dishes in the sink and bundle up and head out to a nearby tree lot and pick out our Christmas tree for the season. When we get home, dad and the kids bring the tree in and set it in the stand while I dish up plates of pumpkin pie and mugs of hot cocoa. We enjoy our sweet treats and then the kiddies go to bed. That night my wonderful husband gets out the lights and strings them on the tree. We will decorate the following day as a family.
I love this day because it’s filled with so much suspense, excitement, and joy–and we do it all as a family.

Nisa - The girls get Christmas ornaments and new pjs that they open on Christmas Eve. I can’t wait!!

Callie - The story of Christ birth on Christmas Eve. Its always a treat!

Tracey Husted - I LOVE Christmas. I get up before everyone else and eat a piece of chocolate cake for breakfast next to the tree. No exercise allowed!

Johnthorne6978 - Making Christmas cookies, icing, spinkles, and all! We do this every year and all 3 of us look forward to it. My daughter turned the big 12 this year, I hope she doesn’t ‘outgrow’ the fun of this tradition!

Andrea - I love baking cookies with my two little helpers! It’s something I did with my mom every year, and have looked forward to doing with my own children since I was young!

Rachel - Making cookies and spending time as a family during the holidays is what I am most excited about! love your blog girly!

Mrs. - My favorite Christmas tradition is new (we have been doing it only two years)…now that my girls are older (11, 13) we host the after church fellowship at the midnight service. They can stay up late, be helpful, and since we don’t live near family, we don’t have any other obligations. This is a small thing we can do to offer hospitality when everyone else seems so busy. BEsides, they like the midnight service. Last year my younger daughter said she couldn’t imagine singing “Silent Night” at the 5pm service when it isn’t even dark!

Diana P - Baking every day and giving the goods to different, special people. That’s my FAVORITE. 🙂

Amber - I’m excited to do the Jesse Tree with the kids again.

Valerie - I love doing an advent calendar with the kids – one I’ve quilted and has ornaments for each day for them to hang, and then I make one out of Hershey Kisses for each of the kids – serves as both a decoration and a treat every day for the countdown. Oh, and giving them each a Christmas book and pj’s several weeks before Christmas so we can get in the spirit every night. It’s all about Jesus!

Mallory - My favorite traditions are the tree trimming party and taking a ride in the car to look at Christmas lights while enjoying a nice cup of hot cocoa.

Linda - Do I have to only pick one? I love trudging through a forest finding the perfect tree, listening to Bing Crosby singing Christmas Carols, baking, baking and more baking, searching for the exact gift, twinkling lights, Christmas Eve pageant, and having my family around me. OK I just couldn’t pick one tradition. They all just go together. I love this time of year!!!

Reneelovestoshop - Our Christmas Eve dice game!

Su@The Intentional Home - oh I’d love to win this bookazine. Our favorite tradition is acting out the Christmas story with impromptu costumes and props. Hubby, me and 4 kids all act it out. . fun!!

Jenna - Unruh Photography - We open gifts one by one. each person guesses what’s inside before opening. It takes hours and I enjoy every second. I highly suggest it. And I NEED this magazine!

Courtney M - So many favorite traditions by my favorite by far is making pierogis from scratch with my family while listening to my Dean Martin Christmas CD.

Jen - i’ve never heard of the magazine before and would LOVE to check it out. I’m a newlywed with 2 christmas’s under our belt and i love waking up on christmas morning together and laying in bed a few extra minutes!
LOVE seeing all the members of our GIANT families and wreaths!

Tara Laudie - My favorite Christmas tradition is the MUSIC – all day, wherever I may be. That’s what makes it Christmas for me.

Breeana - We go and cut down our own tree. Last year, my hubby had a broken leg, so we missed out on our tradition. Looking forward to catching up on it this year!

shelby - my favorite tradition is going to get the tree! 🙂

Maggie Rose - I love decorating the tree. We put on the Nutcracker music, drink eggnog, and unpack all our special ornaments. Looking forward to it!

Donna - My favorite Christmas tradition is pulling out the “countdown to Christmas” calendar. My kids are young and enjoy the magic of Santa and Christmas. (And I do, too!)

Jill - singing carols at Christmas Eve mass. I love this time of year!

Meredith Salmon - Ever since we were little my Mom always said “this Christmas (present wise) is not that great” and it always would be great. It is obnoxious even as adults. My brother has missed a couple of years, but he will be home this year, with his wife. It will be her first Christmas of Crazyness and I can not wait. She is going to love it. Paper everywhere, kids running around.

Robin - So many memories as a child of going to Grandma’s…and so sad that so much has changed as parents grow old and leave us..one tradition that hasn’t changed is our church service on Christmas Eve. Everyone gathers for a beautiful candlelit service together. I love that.

jessica kiehn - Every year on Christmas Eve, we all open one present and it’s always new pajamas to wear that night and Christmas morning. So fun and so cute!
Also, this is mine and my husband’s first Christmas with a child! So we are excited about starting new traditions, as well!

Shairee - I’m totally excited about making ornaments this year with my 4 wonderful children (among other crafts 🙂

Alli - Decorating my tree and baking, baking, baking!!!

Lou Ann - A favorite tradition of mine is gathering together with all of the family and watching everyone’s faces as they open presents. After that we all gather round and sing and play. Before my grandfather passed away, he would entertain us all on his fiddle. Awesome man, awesome memories. This year my son started playing the fiddle! Hoping to continue the legacy!

holly - sausage balls and cream cheese braids for breakfast on christmas morning. Yummm.

Christy - my favorite xmas tradition is crankin up the kenny & dolly parton christmas album and decorating!

Sami - My favorite tradition is our annual Christmas Crafts day with my college BFF’s. It started our freshman year and we have done it every year since! We actually did it this past weekend. So the start of my holiday season is always in the beginning of November!

Jessica - My favorite tradition is decorating the christmas tree, there are so many memories in each and every ornament. It just makes me happy decorating it! 🙂

Erin Johnson - My favorite Christmas tradition is thatat the beginning of December all the girls in my family get together and stay a night in a hotel. We stay up for hours giggling and eating, then we get up and go shopping the next day. What a great way to start off the holiday season.

Lisa - Our family always watches It’s A Wonderful Life together and we make our favorite sugar cookie recipe and decorate them. It’s an evening we all look forward to each year. 🙂

Jodi - My favorite Christmas tradition started about 4 years ago when we moved into our own house. Me, my husband and daughter have my Mom, Nanny, Aunt, Uncle and my brother over for Christmas breakfast on Christmas morning. My daughter gets to show off her presents from Santa and we all get to chill, relax, enjoy a hearty breakfast and each others company. I love being able to provide a warm, nice place for others. We’ve created a lot of great memories and I look forward to it every year.

Linda B - Singing Christmas carols.

Meg - We just moved to a new house, so I am scoping it out for places to hang all our favorite “every year” decorations: the Advent calendar, the snowman, the Santa holding a baby; the nativity set. Plus, I have to shop for and order the matching family Christmas pj’s, which are always waiting for us on the fireplace hearth when we return from Christmas Eve services.

Nancy from the Chicago 'burbs - I am ready to start decorating today! I love everything about Christmas, I can’t pick just one thing.

Emily - Our extended family has a centerpiece competition each year. So each of the elders (my dad, my aunts, and uncles) families gets together to make the best centerpiece they can. One year it was a gingerbread competition, the next year it was a xmas tree decoration and this year it is who can make the overall best centerpiece. It’s always fun because it involves, the young and the old and brings all of our families together.

Michelle - I love having quiet evenings with the tree lit, a fire in the fire place, and my kiddos and hubby and I hanging out–reading books, playing games, or listening to an audio book. But just being together with candles, tree lights, and a fire.

jess - love when the kids get their “Christmas books” every night…the elves hide the books in the house every night in December…the last one being “The Night Before Christmas”

pam - You find so many fun things. Our daughters LOVE their stockings…sometimes they’re more excited to get into them than open all their other packages. They’re in their early twenties and it’s still a HUGE love of theirs.

abby - I love prett much everything… decorating, music, lights, church services, shopping…can’t wait!

melanie - We have a leg lamp… you know the one. We proudly display it on a mantel in front of a big picture window! When we turn it on, we always run outside and see how it glows. I can’t wait!
(pieces from my different nativity scenes always seem to make it to that same mantel and it always looks kinda funny!)

Sarah - I love decorating the tree with the children – thats when christmas really starts for me

Lorri - My husband and I get more excited for the holidays than our kids (21 and 25 still at home). We start to decorate on Dec 1. Up go the lights and our Rudolph my husband made for us 19 years ago out of wood. He went the extra and put a cord through it and it has a lite up red nose. We have an artificial tree because I have way too many hallmark ornaments for it. I have been collecting since 1975. I have an assortment of tall wooden nut crackers that come out and grace our home. Then there is the Poinsettia china we use for our tea at night and I also have a dinner set of christmas dishes I break out each December. My kids don’t go out looking at lights anymore but my husband and I do and we usually bring a CD of carols to sing too, I think it is the singing my kids objected to over the years, lol. We always travel to my In-Laws home (hour car trip and another 1 1/2 ferry ride and have done it for 28 years. This year will be no exception. I have never cooked a christmas turkey myself. We spend each night watching one of our collection of christmas movies and reminisce about christmas past.

Kendra - Hosting our own little Advent services with a few family/friends.

rachel beverlin - I would love that!! How fun! I love making Christmas goodies with my mom and sister every year.
We always got to open one present on Christmas Eve…it was always pj’s!
I can’t wait to start that tradition with my own family now!

Jenn A. - My favorite Christmas tradition is when we come back home after the midnight, candlelight service at church and eat a bunch of the cookies and fudge we have baked from scratch. YUM!

Gina - Oh I love everything about Christmas but I really enjoy doing the advent calendar and Jesse tree with our family.

Shawna - We usually have a family celebration on Christmas Eve by going to our church service and having soups and breads to eat for dinner. Then on Christmas day we get the stockings, gifts and have a bigger meal. This year will hope to celebrate by spending less and worshipping more fully.

Amy R. - I think my favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the tree. We bake something yummy, play Christmas music, and put the ornaments on the tree. It is always neat to see the new ornaments from the year before that we forgot about and other ornaments bring back fond memories from past Christmases. I was ready to put the tree up this weekend, but hubby was not. 🙁
I can’t wait to see that new magazine!
Amy

Lacy Brauner - ooh there are soo many to choose
I hace created a few of my own with my own family. I bake constatnly and bring my nieghbors cookies, so a few years back I started a tradition with my mom,step mom,best freinds( i dont have sisters)and a few other girls and we do a cookie exchange! This soo helps me because I can just bake one or two kinds where as before I cooked many, many kinds! And I am still able to plate up goodies for my friendly,fun,happy neighbors:]

Lillian - I can’t wait to really spend time reading and enjoying The Christmas Story with my little ones. They’re 3 and 1 and my 3 year old will finally “get” it more this year and she’s already so excited:)

lexie - Comming home after Midnight Mass, I snuggle up in my favorite chair with only the lights from the tree, with hot coffee in hand I listen to Christmas music and reflect on those wonderful past holidays at Grandma’s. Then stay up until 3am to finish that dredded wrapping! This year it’s gift bags!
thank you for the opportunity to win this great Christmas Zine!

Julie Briggs - Christmas Eve is my favorite…my family has a party with friends and then we all attend midnight service at church. I love it.

Janelle - One of my best friends has a voice like an angel & has written beautiful praise music. Every year on Christmas Eve at Midnight Services she sings with the choir in an old church w a loft. The first time the choir sang I thought they had many members… turns out there are only 8 people… my first experience with holy song… now I love to watch as others encounter it for the first time!

whitney - I love the Christmas movies and the whole feeling! It has become our tradition to get the tree the day after Thanksgiving and to watch those movies along with it…

adrienne - i love the hustle and bustle but spending christmas eve at mom’s house with my family is the best!

Trish - I can’t wait for our annual family hay ride! We ride through town on a hay wagon pulled by a tractor and sing Christmas Carols!

jodi @ back40life - We read the Christmas story together as a family the night before Christmas…our little boy is old enough to really enjoy it this year, so I’m really looking forward to that, but also the entire holiday in general…he’s 4 now, and it’s so enjoyable to see Christmas through his eyes!

Liz @ Perfect Chaos - The truth is I love EVERYTHING about Christmas ~ the music, the lights, the decorations, the trees, the food, the gatherings, the cards, the presents, the energy, and of course celebrating the birth of our Savior.

kristine - my favorite tradition is celebrating our swedish heritage with st. lucia and a smorgasbord on christmas eve!

Tammy Sabourin - Mom’s raisin spice cake with lots of gooey icing. Yums!

Gayle - We do the Advent Tree each night with our kids. They love to put the tiny ornaments on our special Advent Tree while Daddy reads how each ornaments represents a sign of the promise of Christ.

Meredith - My cousin and I have baked our Christmas cookies together on “Cookie Day Weekend” the weekend after Thanksgiving every year for the last 15 years. We have so much fun and get so much done. When we started, she had a 1 year old baby. Over the last 15 years, we have added 3 children and have moved collectively 4 times. We bake all day Saturday, eat Chinese food for dinner then watch a Christmas movie in the evening. We have a big family breakfast then part to get more Christmas chores finished. It’s such a delightful weekend.

susie - I would love to win a copy of Matthew Mead’s Holiday magazine. My favorite tradition is listening to Christmas music while we all decorate the Christmas tree together.

Jessica H. - Ooh…I’ve never heard of this before but I’d definitely love a copy. Cute stuff!

KellyB - My favorite holiday tradition is taking a new photo of our family in front of the tree to add to our album. It was the first gift my hubby gave me when we were dating, at Cmas time, and we add one photo each year. This will be the 7th picture, and I love seeing how our family grows and evolves each year. I think it will be so special in 50 years to look at!

Jessica - I’m ready! I have one gift left to buy & a few to make & then I’m done with gifts! It’s hard to narrow down my favorite Christmas tradition to just one. I suppose it would have to be either steak & mushroom gravy & homemade bread for breakfast on Christmas morning or watching the kids look for the pickle on the tree. Of course celebrating Christ’s birth is really the best tradition!

donna - hi meg. i want to win!! my favorite xmas tradition is shopping!! oh yes, i love the chaos of it all! i love to hit the stores at 3 am the day after thanksgiving. i do my shopping with my girl friends, go have a nice breakfast and go home and go back to sleep!!!

Michele with 1 L - Christmas music!!!! We have a local radio station that starts playing it the day after Thanksgiving. O Holy Night is my favorite carol, and I think I have every version of it ever on iTunes. My husband is looking forward to recording some traditional and original songs on Garage Band this year, and we’re hoping our 6 yr old daughter will sing along!

Juli - My favorite thing about the holidays is that my hubby saves up most of his vacation time and takes several weeks off around Christmas. We have him all to ourselves! I know my odds are low of winning this so I bought my copy (thank you for posting the info b/c otherwise I’d never know about it!) However, if I do win, I have a friend who I’d love to give this to!

Shannon - Favourite tradition would have to be going to my parents place and having dinner with everyone. Since we were hit with a major flu bug last Christmas Eve we are extra excited to be able to chill with everyone this year! 🙂
Thanks for the chance to win!!

amac - My husband and I have lived overseas for over 5 years. Our colleagues here are our family away from our family. So, we started a tradition of them all coming over and spending the night at our house on Christmas Eve, even though they only live down the street. It makes it feel like we have relatives from out of town visiting and it’s so much fun to wake up to a houseful of people we love on Christmas morning. So fun! Can’t wait!!!

Nicole M - my favorite christmas tradition is buying the christmas tree and setting it up while decorating the rest of the house. I LOVE Christmas time so much.

Carrie - Oooooooh!!! I would love to have a copy of the magazine!! I need a little help getting in the Christmas spirit!

Karie - We are just starting to establish some traditions with our 3 year old and 10 month old. Growing up, my mom gave us a Christmas ornament each year. When I got married, she gave them all to me as a wedding present. We’ve started that tradition with our kids.

Katie - On Christmas Eve we all go to my parents and celebrate. My favorite thing is when we sing along with the Evie song “Come on, Ring those bells” all the kids get a bell to ring during the chorus of the song. We used to go to my grandmothers every Christmas Eve before she passed away and we did this every year. It reminds my sisters and I of when we were young and I remember how exciting it was when it was time to ring your bell!! Who am I kidding it’s still exciting!!

Ange - Meg I love your blog! My favorite tradition is going up to the mountains, picking out a tree, tying
It to the top of the car, setting it up and decorating!

Katie4Life - This year I am excited to bake a birthday cake for Jesus. We have never done that as I always think we have too much junk food around to add a cake too, but really you need a cake on a birthday, right?!! This is another way for my young children to keep Christ in Christmas!

Emilee Prenevost - Growing up my favorite tradition was my dad’s famous Christmas morning breakfast 🙂 He made eggnog with orange juice mixed in, and homemade cinnamon rolls! It was amazing! Then we read the Christmas story 🙂 Then we opened stockings, then presents 🙂 My husband’s parents always gave each child a new ornament every year 🙂 and they would hide their stockings and the kids would have to find them 🙂 (with clues mom and dad left) oh and after all the presents were opened and they thought everything was over, their parents would say “Oh! we almost forgot! we have one more present for all of you!” 🙂 it was my husband’s favorite 🙂 and his mom had one of those calenders that countdown till Christmas….he loved that 🙂

Jennie - My favorite tradition is opening (and now letting my kids open) one gift on Christmas Eve. Growing up, I had a great aunt who would send a box each year that had dozens of little gifts wrapped inside – dolls, Happy Meal toys, balls, etc. I always picked that gift to open on Christmas eve because it was really like opening a dozen gifts!

Karen - Every Christmas Eve my husband and I go drive around and look at Christmas lights and then come home and exchange our gifts to each other. It’s our way of stealing a little time to ourselves before the next day erupts with seven kinds of crazy chaos from all the kids, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents running around!

Stacy - I have a Rudolph party for my mother, sisters, niece, nephew and son! I get my tree up the Friday after Thanksgiving and that night they all come over to bake cookies (Pilsbury) and drink hot chocolate while watching Rudolph! We all wear pj’s too. It is a great way to start our Christmas holidays!

Megan - cutting down our Christmas tree… as a family. It’s the best!

Suzy Adams - Hi Meg! I love your blog! My favorite holiday tradition is going to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago on Christmas Eve, during the day – it’s free! Then, we head to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner with my huge family. Once we get home, late late late, I bake a batch of warm Toll House Cookies with my son (for Santa). We put our holiday jammies on and go to sleep… under the tree. It’s magical…and we have been doing it since Jack was two. He is 8 now. Happy Holidays and thanks for the fun opportunity!
Suzy Adams

Stephanie - I’m feeling the same as you, ready to get started!
This year is the first year I am staying with my family (home!) for Christmas since we got married over 5 years ago. I’m excited to introduce my hubby to my family’s traditions!

Kirsten J - One of my favorite traditions is taking my daughter and a friend to get something at Starbucks, and then driving and driving and driving, looking at the Christmas lights.

barb - My favorite tradition is the orange rolls my husband makes every year on Christmas morning. My kids are grown and out of the house,and still expect those rolls every year! Just thinking of it gives me goosebumps. My kids would be all sticky and happy and the house smelled so yummy. Pure joy, these memories and this tradition!

Kelly - Every year my sister and I get together for out annual Bake-a-Thon. It starts early in the morning and goes to late at night. Our men take the kids and know to stay far far away. We have a couple of recipes that are must-do’s every year and then we audition a couple. We always seem to have at least one that flops, so it’s always comforting once that one is out of the way. This year my mom is joining us. It will be our 9th annual and I can’t wait.

*LuLu* - i like going and seeing relatives and i like all the snow

Juliann - HI Megan – my favorite Christmas tradition is baking my mom’s famous pistachio nut coffee cakes – yummmmmy!
I hope you and your family are well; I love ‘keeping up’ with you through your blog, and seeing some familiar faces too 😉

Sara M. - I love to bake all the yummy treats!

Wendy - Every year on Dec 6th, St. Nick leaves a holiday ornament for each of our kids. The ornament represents something that they participated in or achieved during that year. These are the ornaments that they will be able to take with them when they are ready to start their own holiday traditions.

BeckyB - Mine is sitting in the living room at night with only the tree lights on, Christmas music playing, candles, with the ones I love. God has blessed us so much!
I want my new favorite tradition to be giving/serving more to those who don’t have all I do.
Thank you!

Courtney McIlwain - I love baking. I do it every year for my husband’s employees. Its so much fun!!!

Margo - I am excited about spending time with family. Any my 5 year old niece always comes to spend a night at my house so that we can sleep by the fire with the Christmas tree lights blinking.

Heidi - My favorite is Christmas Eve with friends and family.

Jenn - I have always loved getting the Christmas tree together. We used to drive into the mountains to get one when we were little. Then we moved to the mountains and started x-country skiing to get them, or snowshoeing. Now we just walk up into the trees in the back acreage with our little ones and cut one down together. Along with a thermos of cocoa! (sometimes mixed with peppermint schnapps for the ‘adults’…)

Becki Griffin - My boys who are 10, still enjoy making ornaments for our tree.
I love that.

Elizabeth - Our most treasured Christmas tradition is taking out our collection of mangers……especially now that my mother has passed away and I have inherited hers…..

Sherry - I’d have to say baking goodies for my family and friends. It’s such fun and so filled with love. For me there is nothing better than giving a wonderful homemade gift.

Kat - Not sure if this is open to international readers but I will comment anyway. My favourite tradition is when we put up the tree. It is always done by me and my sister (who sadly is in the uk this Christmas) and we always play elvis christmas carols and eat candy canes while we decorate. We all have our own personal decorations that our aunty made when we were little so we all get to pick a spot for those ourself. It’s always fun just to hang out me and my sister.

Debbie - We really have a lot of Christmas traditions. It’s my favorite holiday. I love watching my favorite holiday movies, decorating, and baking.

Lynette - Christmas morning complete with new christmas pjs, cozy baby girls and baked french toast.

jenny - I love the evenings where we have a cozy fire, slippers, homemade cocoa and watch Christmas classics all snuggled up with the Christmas tree lights on.

stephanie a. - nativity advent calendar and elf on the shelf 🙂

courtney - new christmas eve pjs was my favorite tradition as a kid growing up…now we do it with our children. another favorite tradition is reading the night before christmas as a family. love. love. love. i can’t waitttt!!

Kimberly P - It’s my first Christmas as a wife, so I have not idea what traditions we are going to begin, but I am so excited to start celebrating every Christmas with my husband and our families:)

Heather - I’m loving reading all of these posts! It’s totally getting me in the mood for Christmas! There just isn’t enough time for all the activities I want to do and the traditions we want to maintain! I also am totally loving all the people that give PJs to their kiddos on Christmas Eve, as we do the same. Adoring the idea of *tricking* my girls this year! I’m sure they would react much the same! LOL
It’s so hard to choose a fave tradition. I really enjoy sitting with the girls by their “Jesus” tree every evening as we place the proper Adorenament on the tree and discuss the names of Jesus. I really loved that my little one could finally read them aloud. There is nothing better than listening to the Word of God coming out of your children’s mouths!
My most sentimental tradition would be baking Christmas candies with my girls. As a child, I distinctly remember doing this with my mom, sister and sometimes our aunt. The whole house would smell of pumpkin and chocolate and we’d listen to Christmas music and talk and laugh and sip on hot cocoa and there was nothing better in the whole world than “working” in a warm house surrounded by love and anticipating the parties and the celebrations to come! I’d love nothing more than to get all of the special women in my life back together for a day to bake Christmas candy! But, for now, I’m loving passing that tradition on to my girls.

Cindy Singer - I love turning on the christmas music and decorating the tree with the kids!

Leah - I am so excited to watch my favorite Christmas movies with my kids!

Kirsten - I love the entire season! But I’m probably most excited for Christmas Eve. Board games, hot chocolate, new pajamas, playing Santa, and reading the Christmas Story. I love it all!

Nicole - My absolute favorite part of Christmas is Christmas eve, when my entire gets together at my grandma’s and we give out gag gifts. It is always so much fun!

Janelle - My favorite tradition is one that my husband and I started before we were even married – we always have tacos on Christmas Eve and mimosas on Christmas morning! My favorite tradition for the children? Christmas jammies! We let them open one gift on Christmas Eve – cute jammies they can wear while opening their presents the next morning.

Melissa Dubbs - Putting up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving night.

Jen - Ohhhh-I would LOVE to win this. My favorite tradition is our family time decorating the tree. We watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “The Christmas Story”, eat special treats, and have a great time together!

Arrica Martin - aahhh! I so want to win.
i have seen clips here and there on blogs. Need some inspiration.
Thanks for the chance…

Leah - We watch Smokey Mountain Christmas every Christmas Eve…I love it!

ellen patton - I don’t buy Christmas gifts. I make treats or sew things for my family.

Beth K. - My husband and I try to combine many traditions that we grew up with and do them with our children – making Christmas sugar cookies, the special baking, decorating, etc. but we started our new tradition a few years ago. After coming home from Christmas Eve service we pop popcorn, get drinks, dress the kids in their pjs (except for the oldest one now)and we go drive around the area looking at Christmas lights and displays at other houses. It is usually a calm, quiet time – which by Christmas Eve I need – and the kids just love it. We plan to continue it for a very long time – then hopefully some day they will do it with their kids.

Shawna - My favorite Christmas tradition is celebrating my oldest son’s birthday. He was born on Christmas Eve and was absolutely the best Christmas gift ever! We try to make his party special without any holiday ties. He is a VERY lucky boy in the gift department because everyone remembers his birthday.

kristen - I love hanging the stockings my mother made for me and my family. They were made with such love, it reminds me of what Christmas is all about = Jesus!

A Horn - Every year growing up my grandma, mom and I would take two days to make about 20 dozen different kinds of tamales a couple weeks before Christmas (We ONLY make tamales for Christmas). Now that my grandma has passed it is just my mom and I. It is such a special tradition that has spanned many generations and I hope to have my own daughters so that I might continue the tradition with them and their grandma.

Gina - Yes-we are getting excited too…I’m restraining myself (at the request of my hubby) from pulling out all the decorations! Our favorite tradition has got to be our annual trek into the woods to find that perfect, if not elusive, Christmas tree.

aimee - I am such a sap when it comes to Christmas! This morning, I pushed my three-year-old twins down both Christmas Tree aisles in Target while we sang “O Christmas Tree” softly to ourselves. I LOVE this time of year!
One of my favorite traditions (of many) is our big family Chinese food celebration on Christmas Eve. It started as a tribute to my dad after he passed away (Chinese was his favorite), and continues as an easy and casual way for us to see each other and catch up. 🙂

Ashley B. - I love all the baking I get to do! I don’t have kids, so I end up eating a lot of it myself (and giving away as much as I can), but I still have a blast! 🙂

Denise - Decorating the tree with my husband and kids. My husband and son set it up and put the lights on, then we girls decorate it. We shut off all the lights in the house and have a big unveiling of the lit tree with it’s simple but treasured ornaments.

Heather K - FAMILY, Family!! I love that every year ALL of my family gathers together, no matter what!

Maureen S - When I was younger my mom used to make crownroll (now known as monkey bread). We also went as a family to visit and sing carols to older relatives in nursing homes. Candle light service at church on Christmas Eve was so special. I now have two boys of my own, and would like to pass on these traditions to them.

Jennifer - One of my favorite traditions is that my two daughters always get new matching pj’s to wear on Christmas morning! They are now 23 and 21 and still look forward to opening their new pj’s on Christmas Eve.

carols - Favorite Christmas tradition…hmmm…a special family gathering at my husband’s aunt’s house. Everyone gets dolled up and we have a beautiful sit down dinner two weeks before Christmas where just about everyone can make it. It kicks off the heart of the season!

Laura - I’m excited about having a baby! (And yes, this is kind of a tradition since it is the third baby I’ve had around Christmastime.)

Anna - I love Christmas!
In our family we always have broiled grapefruit halves w/ brown sugar and a cherry on Christmas morning. Delicious!

Ali Richardson - My very favorite Christmas tradition is when my husband hides baby Jesus from the nativity set on Dec first when we decorate for Christmas. He hides him somewhere and then magically he reappears in the manger at midnight on Christmas eve. I have yet to find him on my own (& yes, I look all over the place). My Nana used to do this for me when I was little. I used to always try to stay up until midnight so I could watch her do it, but I never could make it that long. I’m happy we have continued on this fun tradition for our kids 🙂

Bec - We have several traditions that I love.
1. Hide the pickle – my mom has a pickle ornament that she hides and whoever finds it gets an extra gift.
2. Every year we get a new ornament from my mom and she always manages to pick out the perfect ornament for everybody.
3. We watch Christmas Vacation EVERY year and every time our entire family is in tears from laughing so hard.
It is good times at the Holmes household when Christmas rolls around 🙂

Lee Ann - I love putting the tree up with the family on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, making tons of cookies with my girls, and flying to my parents’ ON Christmas day! Makes for a fabulous Christmas!

Heidi - We started waiting until the last minute to get a tree (as in a day or two before) and making sure it’s a Charlie Brown kind of tree. It’s in memory of our first Christmas: we were armed with $3, completely poor, but the guy pointed me to the dumpster where they put all the tiny trees (under 2feet) about to be tossed. It was beautiful! We were thrilled and in love with the whole season. Humble beginnings just like Jesus.

katherine - I love everything traditional about Christmas, so it is hard to pick but I would say it would be our family get together on Christmas Eve with the kids and grandkids! We are loving having grandbabies to spoil now…brings back wonderful memories of childhood innocence again 🙂
p.s. I am hoping this giveaway is open to Canadian residents…I guess I should have asked first!
Blessings, kathy

Kate B. - I think I might be most excited about a new tradition – reading the Matthew Meade Holiday magazine in the bathtub by myself! 🙂

Maureen - rum balls!!! 🙂

Roberta - I LOVE Christmas and have many traditions that we do throughout the season. I look forward to the night we decorate gingerbread houses especially. One that may not thrill the kids as much as me is giving them Christmas jammies that they open and wear on Christmas Eve. Santa also hides the pickle ornament and puts candy canes on the tree when he comes.

Ann R. - Yes, somewhere in blogland I saw Matthew Mead website – it looks totally up my alley. One of the traditions we do is oplatki, it is a polish tradition – each family member gets a wafer (similar to a commumion wafer) and you go to EACH family member present them to tear of a piece of wafer and make a wish or a blessing for that person for the new year and the family member says the same to you. Love it – would not be Christmas without it! Happy Birthday to Annie – they grow up too fast – my baby is eight! Thanks for the op to win his magazine!

Amanda - On Christmas Eve, we make cookies in the shape of our initials and decorate a gingerbread house!

Dana@Bungalow'56 - We just started a new Christmas tradition last year. My daughters and make huge batches of biscotti to give to all of our family, and along with that we give a compilation CD of our favourite Christmas music. Everyone was so appreciative. They are already asking about this year.
Dana

Jennifer - From the first night our tree is up, we eat dinner on the coffee table, in front of the Christmas tree – and we do it every night in December. By Christmas tree light ONLY. And we LOVE it! And we pick one night and drive all over the city with hot chocolate in hand to check out the Christmas lights! I LOVE December!

erin - our favorite christmas tradition is eating chinese food (growing up) or sushi (now) on christmas eve! no one ever feels like cooking, we rarely have all of the presents wrapped, and nothing else is open! it’s PERFECT.

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Oh, I love Matthew Mead! Favorite tradition… Making cookies with Aunt Margaret. The last three years, the kids have joined in the fun and it gets better and better each time. It reminds me of when I was little. She has the sugar cookies already made and we decorate and ice to our hearts desire!

Kristy Mendler - One of my favorite traditions….picking out and decorating the tree!! That’s when the season starts for us!

Annette - Christmas is a great time to catch up wit friends and family, our most loved tradition is the Christmas tree, i have ornaments that have been in the family for years and i love taking them all out and the memories and people that are connected to them!

Leah - Favorite tradition is baking holiday cookies and candy for work friends and neighbors. It always brings a smile to people’s faces. Love it!

Heidi Jo the Artist - Every year except last year (due to piles of endless snow) I have celebrated Christmas with my parents and siblings. Especially looking forward to such a simple pleasure this year. 🙂

Linette - My favorite Christmas tradition is listening to the Chipmunks Christmas record (on vinyl until two years ago). It just doesn’t seem like Christmas without it! I also started a new tradition last year: I bought three ornaments the open up, and me, my husband and my daughter all write something nice about each other and put the notes inside the ornaments. It is nice to get a sweet note from everyone that you can keep all year 🙂
PS LOVE this blog! It is the only one I read daily 🙂

Stacia - I’m looking forward to ALL of our Christmas traditions this year. We have a four year old, a two year old, and six month old. I just love that it’s going to be completely different than any other year:)

Kristin - wow… Most excited for? All of the photo Christmas cards and how all my family and friends families change and grow from year to year.

Debbie Smallie - My favorite tradition is picking out the perfect real Christmas tree. Of course, we always end up “Clark Griswold style”….having to use a zillion bungy cords to keep it on the top of our car for the ride home..it’s always too big and we have to chop half off…we often have to tie it the wall so it’ll stand. But, it’s always perfect and I love the fresh pine scent!

Kelli Ross - Baking (with my girls) while listening to Christmas music…..

Paula - The Christmas tradition my husband and I started is an “Ugly Christmas Sweater” party. All the men waited until the last minute and they couldn’t find any to buy.. so we made them (they bought sweaters, then we cut out felt and sewed the decorations on the sweaters.) Last year I made one for my step-son so he wouldn’t feel left out at the party. This will be our 3rd annual Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and I think this year I will abandon my store-bought sweater and make one for myself.

BriBedell - I am excited for Biscuits & Gravy Christmas morning 🙂

Beth Ann - We have recently started new traditions with my little family of 4. One of my favorite is getting the kids matching Christmas pj’s from us, mom & dad, and giving them to them Christmas Eve to wear to bed. I snap a picture with them wearing them in front of the tree. So far I have been really good about printing the pictures out and putting them in an album for each of them, along with the picture holiday card we send out. My thought is that when the children get older (late 20’s/30’s) I’ll give the album to them for Christmas gift one year.

Jessica Manier - My, now 5 year old, daughter and I make homemade ornaments for our tree in the kitchen. The tree has a cooking/baking theme every year. This year we are making dried orange slice ornaments, dried applesauce and cinnamon cut-out ornaments (these smell great!)popcorn garland and cranberry ornaments. I love spending the time with her, passing down the tradition and the yummy hot chocolate we share! Added bonus: The gifts under this tree go to Toys for Tots to show our support to the Marine Corp ( my brother is a Marine) and the children in need.

Amy Coose - My favorite holiday tradition would definitely be putting up our Christmas tree. I just love how homey it makes our house look, and the memories from all of the decorations. Thanks for the chance to win!

Tonya - My favorite tradition is letting the kids open one gift on Christmas Eve! They always get a new pair of pj’s and my son is still so excited and surprised by the pjs…oh how I love his innocence!

Alyssa - Putting up the tree. This year it’ll be in our first place, which makes it even more exciting!

Kim - We “elf on the shelf” it for the kids. They LOVE it and it’s all I can do to wait until the day after Thanksgiving to bring old “Rosie” out. I started buying decorations and crafting supplies. I saw an amazing holiday wreath made out of vintage ornaments online. I’m going to attempt making one that fits our house! Too. much. fun.

Mama Sue - Our daughter is 10 and since she was one, her Granny (my mother in law) comes and spends the night with us on Christmas Eve. It’s nice because someone is home while we go to my dad’s house to celebrate with him. I know it’s making special memories for my daughter…

Miss - The tradition I’ve always loved most is going to my grandma’s on Christmas eve! No matter where the year takes any of us, the whole family is there, happy to see each other and it’s nothing but love! Love it!

Kari - I can’t wait to watch The Christmas Story over and over and over again on TBS 🙂

Alison - One of my favorite tradtions that I started with my son 10 years ago was to put our jammies on, make homemade hot chocolate and drive around looking at lights. We live in a small town so there was no fear of getting caught in our jammies. Every year since he was 2 he has asked me to do this. He will be 12 soon and something tells me he will want to keep the tradition going. I hope so.

Julie - Wow! An opportunity to win this magazine!!!!!!!! I just discovered it earlier this month and love all the previews. My favorite Christmas tradition is going to church on Christmas Eve and then coming home and having fondue… cheese, broth (for the meat), and chocolate.

holly - I was just about to order one after waffling about it for a long time. My favorite tradition is reading The Night Before Christmas every Chrismas Eve. We have my grandparents vintage copy and it has such lovely vintage illustrations.

Alysa - I love playing Kenny Rogers Christmas music and Amy Grant’s Christmas album (from long ago) while putting up the Christmas tree and decorations. We did this when I was growing up and have continued that tradition in our home with our kids.

Christian@Modobject at Home - Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I love the warmth of family and food gathering with grateful hearts. At Christmas I love baking homemade kolaches (I have a strong Czech heritage) for us to eat on Christmas day.

stephanie - My favorite holiday tradition that we started only last year was taking our girls to see the Nutcracker at a local ballet school production – just right for little girls. This year the program isn’t happening so we are going to a local church that does a big Christmas musical that some friends are performing in!

MGF - Mimosa’s on Christmas morning

Routhie - My mother made stockings for my brothers and I, but did not fill them every year. Even when she did, it was usually with fruit, much to my brothers chagrin. Ever since I was 4, I have kept the same pecan in my stocking just so I could pull it out and say I got something. It drove my brothers crazy. To this day, I love getting my stocking out and making sure the pecan is still there.

shelly - We love taking our special needs son (he has cerebral palsy ) to the tree farm …wheeling his chair thru all the trees until he finds the perfect one for our house…he gets so excited…therefore, this mama gets so excited 🙂 !

Russanna - My favorite tradition is putting out my nutcrackers. Right before my husband and I got married, we celebrated my birthday. Since we were poor trying to pay for a wedding, he bought me a little nutcracker which was all he could afford, telling me he wanted that to start my collection. Each year, he surprised me with a new nutcracker. I look forward to receiving it all year!

Jane - wow I have so many christmas traditions that I love. the last few years I have loved being home alone wrapping presents after dinner on christmas eve (usually dinner with family) before heading out to our 11pm service at church. I love having some quiet time before the chaos of the next day to think about the special people whom I am wrapping gifts for, I love taking my time to ensure they look special and I love that service. last year we did the whole service by candlelight – it was such a beautiful way to begin the christmas celebration, can’t wait for this year.

Meredith - We go to a candlelight Lovefeast service on Christmas Eve in historic Old Salem. No matter what is happening each year or who is in town visiting, you can guarantee we’ll keep this tradition. The music gets you in the holiday mood, the service preps your heart, and the freshly made buns and coffee are scrumptious.

mary elizabeth - One of my Mom’s bets friends has always sent us a gingerbread house every year since Maddie was about 2! She just asked me this mornig when it was coming – she was g=ready to put it together.
We also have a count down in our front hall with little socks filled with goodies – a mint, coin, eraser. It helps me stay on track how many days we have left and helps Maddie keep from making me crazy – “HOW MUCH LONGER MOMMY?”
We also added “Elf on A Shelf” last year and we are waiting patiently for Thanksgiving to arrive so Lilly can come back with us. That has been one of the best things.That was more fun than I ever could have imagined and would make an amazing gift for someone!! 🙂

Tracie - We love celebrating with our Advent calendar, lighting the candles, reading scripture about Jesus’ coming and birth, seeing the Christmas lights go up, spending lots of time together crafting and baking. I am excited too, but I have to do Thanksgiving first, then I’ll be ready!

Andrea - My favorite tradition is listening to my husband read Christmas stories to my children before bed on Christmas Eve. My husband is in the Army and I am so thankful that he will be home celebrating another Christmas with us this year 🙂

Stefanie Shultz - Favorite tradition? Christmas Eve with a my large extended family, it’s always pure craziness, but I love it!

Sheila - Trudging through the cut-your-own tree farm on Sunday after church, arguing about which is the best one, who got to pick last year, is it too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny; and finally finding “The One” we all agree on and decorating it that afternoon with Christmas Vacation playing on the DVD and hot chocolate to go all around!

rosemarie - my favorite tradition is the whole family is together christmas eve and we stay up very late.

Jess Mead - We plan on starting a new holiday tradition this year. A “REAL” Christmas tree. We are going to take the kids to the Christmas tree farm and let them pick their own tree out. I can’t wait!

linda - Getting my two children matching soft brand new holiday pjs to wear Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day…love how sweet they look. Also the family time bonding while decorating the whole house (two trees) for Christmas. Can’t wait!! Fall colors and Christmas are my favorite times of the year!

Shann - We moved to Michigan last year at Christmas time. We put our fake tree up because we were in the midst of unpacking 123,458,458 boxes. 🙂 We are surrounded by Christmas tree farms up here. So this year, we are going out to find the perfect real tree and bring her home. I am anxious to have that smell again in my home and to make that memory with my family.

Megan Jernovics - Our Christmas tradition is to let the girls open a gift from us on Chistmas Eve. It has always been new pajamas. Last year we played a trick on them and wrapped new underwear and socks. It was funny to watch their faces. They tried to be gracious. We turned right around and gave them their jammies. For the last few years my father has sneaked outside and shook sleigh bells while we were reading “Twas The Night Before Christmas”. Talk about excitement! The girls have never noticed that Grandpa wasn’t around. 🙂

lovethosecupcakes - Although, of course, I love the run up to Christmas and the big day itself, I relish the day after all of that activity (Boxing day as it’s called here in the UK) when I stay in my pj’s all day, stuff myself silly (starting with the traditional chocolate Toblerone for breakfast!), have a proper look at my presents and watch TV from my very comfortable spot on the sofa. Perfect.

Meg B. - I love the warm kitchen with steam rolling out of the hot water bath canner. I spend hours turning a frezzer full of sweet summer fruit into sweet spreads and syrups to go with homemade bread and pancake mixes for holiday gifts.

Libby - We let our boys open one present on Christmas eve, but we make them find it. I print clues in rhyme on little pieces of paper…each clue leads to another piece of paper, until finally they find the one that leads to their hidden present. They have so much fun doing it, they want me to add more and more clues to make the search last longer!

Donna - I’m looking forward to starting a new Christmas tradition this year – a Jesse Tree. I’m hoping to one with my Sunday school class as well.

Kathy C. - I am looking forward to baking and decorating white velvet cutout cookies with my son this year and listening to Christmas music.

Carrie - I’m from Australia so Christmas is sitting outside in the warm weather, watching the kids in the pool and playing backyard cricket. If the kids are happy then that’s a perfect Christmas.

Dawn - Pretty much everything about Christmas is my favorite. But my all-time favorite would have to be putting up the Christmas tree on Thanksgiving morning and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade.

Gemma - Hi Meg!
My favourite Xmas tradition is getting new pj’s & socks. It makes me feel so cosy & snuggly during the festive season!!
Gemma x

Amber - So many good things, but what I love most is finding creative ways to give to others in need.

Katy Stone - family, family, family! we have a big christmas day brunch w/ my hubs fam every year. he comes from a big family, so its a sweet time to get everyone in the same house at the same time!

Erica - I am ready!!! Yeah! =D I cannot wait to curl up with cocoa or cider and watch my love Bing Crosby in White Christmas. =) My favorite tradition is: We have a little wooden tree that my mom made and 25 little pillow ornaments that she cross-stitched. They are advent pillows and everyday we still read a little story about what is on that pillow ornament for that day. =) I just love it! Even though I am 20 and my sister is 24, we still insist on doing it because it is such a big Christmas tradition in our house!!

Becky - I am sooooooo ready for Christmas to start – I love it, it’s my favourite time of the year – unfortunately where we live is hot, so it’ doesn’t feel really Christmassy – you have to make a big effort to make it feel festive. I love the look of that magazine, unfortunately my location prevents me from entering your draw but I hope whoever wins it really enjoys it. I love your blog by the way – such fab colours all the time – the best x

Danielle Farley - Something that I love each year is letting the kids open a gift on Christmas Eve, which always turns out to be Christmas p.j.s!:) It still surprises them every year lol. I just love cuddling with my kiddos in soft comfy pajamas.