Tradition!

I have to admit that I took this topic from Kelli's blog since I haven't had any ideas for mine the past few days. Now I have the song about traditions from Fiddler on the Roof stuck in my head! Christmas traditions are very important to me...maybe because it was something I could always count on staying the same as a child. In my family, Christmas Eve was always a very BIG deal. Every year we would go to my Nana's house and get to spend the evening with my aunt and my 3 cousins. No matter what, we could always count on my aunt and cousins to be late! In fact, we would tell them to be there at 5 if we wanted them there by 6! We would first have dinner (which became less formal as I got older) and then dessert. We ALWAYS had our special Christmas punch and Nana's chocolate ice box pie (my very favorite to this day!). Finally, after waiting on the adults to finish eating, it was time to open presents!! Someone would be "Santa" and would hand out all of the presents. Once all of the presents were handed out, we would all begin opening them at the same time. Believe it or not, we were still able to see what others got and we took the time to hug and thank our family for our gifts. My brother always teases me because I tend to take my time opening my gifts (delayed gratification) so that I still have one or two presents to open after everyone else is done. I know...it's slightly obnoxious, but it's a tradition so I must continue doing it :)! A few years ago, my brother hid one of his presents and then surprised me with it after I had opened all of mine. He really got me that time! A major part of our tradition involves singing. We start this at Thanksgiving and continue to sing on Christmas Eve. I love it!

Christmas morning was always special because that's when we got our "Santa" presents and stockings, even after we were older. My Nana only lived a few blocks away, so she would drive over and watch us open those gifts too. Our stockings always had some type of fruit in them and a new toothbrush with other more "fun" things. Christmas morning was when we got the more special gifts (or toys when we were kids). Now I know this might sound terrible, but one of the only good things (if you can call it that) out of coming from a broken home is that you end up celebrating holidays multiple times, which was always nice at Christmas. My brother, sister, and I would get ready for the day, put on a new outfit that we had opened, and would spend the rest of the day with my dad and grandparents on his side of the family. My dad's side always did a big meal, which included my grandma's sausage balls and mashed potatoes! Yum! After lunch with the family, we would open our stockings and presents. It was always a good time!

The past few years have called for some changes to our traditions, which isn't easy, but I guess it is a part of growing up. People move, get married, and things change, but this allows new traditions to be made! Last year, Tim and I drove into DC to look at the Christmas trees on Christmas Eve and we opened only one present (which was very hard for me!). This year we are having Christmas at my mom's new home in McKinney (where we currently live). It will be the first year that Tim is with us (yeah!) and the first year that my cousin, Robin, will be gone (she is actually moving to NOVA next week to be near her fiance). I am looking forward to the day when Tim and I have our own family and blend our traditions for our own children!