anyone here have any special Christmas traditions they do?

I usually sleep in...get up, watch a Christmas Story with the family, dad 'plays santa' and we open our gifts, drink mamosas (sp?)-champagne and orange juice..mmmm and we have bacon and eggs for breakfast.

also have a new addition to the family this year, our cat, who discovered how to hide himself in piles of wrapping paper :-) quite humerous to watch...well its about 3, dinner time soon! mmm vennisin stew droooooooool :-)

My Family, including myself are German, so therefore we get to open our presents Christmas eve. We go to church service on chirstmas eve, um have a huge dinner and on Christmas day we just sleep in and play ping-pong :-)

I have normally worked Christmas eve, and Christmas Day...... simply because it was just another scheduled day. (when you work a 7/24 type job-that's life) And usually 12 or 16 hours shifts each day, has become the norm. Even when Christmas fell on one of my days off, I use to go in and let one of the guys with little kids have the day off.

No real traditions.. No kids for the wife and I.. So we just enjoy the day amongst ourselves.. We do however pay visits to friends with kids and play a bit of Santa Claus with them..
So far, ive been lucky and the phone hasnt rang.. im on top of the call list today..

Dave

Yea our phone has been ringing all day, if I answer I dont even look at the caller ID, I pick it up and say merry christmas what do you want :-) :-)

On Christmas Eve the children are allowed to open one gift from a friend.
On Christmas Day, as with all families the children are the alarm clocks. This morning it was 5:30, but mom insisted no presents until the turkey was in the oven.


As to traditions;

There are two traditions (from my side of the family) we do uphold.
There is always an extra place set at the table and always an extra gift under the tree, for a welcome, but unexpected guest (It is His birthday after all.).

Well, in Denmark we celebrate christmas on christmas eve the 24., the family - my wife, my 2 kids, inlaws and my parents - goes to church around 14.00 while i prepare the food - its duck ! - and I have the luck to stay home a do the hard work - like opening the wine and taste if its good enough... :-)

Around 18.00 we eat, roasted duck, then we get something strictly danish - Ris ala Mande - in this aftercourse is hidden a almond, and the one who gets/finds the almond gets a small present - funny enough the kids allways get the almond

After that we dance around the christmas tree while we sing christmas carols, after that the gifts are opened - one at the time, so everybody can see what everybody gets.

On the 25.we sleep in and the kids play with there presents. - friends pop by and get a beer or something..

We used to go to my parents on Christmas Eve and open the presents we chose with the money they'd give us and act surprised, then my in-laws would come over on Christmas day for my lasagne. There's only my FIL now and he doesn't like to travel all that much, but I still have my lasagna. We'll be seeing him tomorrow on the way back from visiting friends who have travelled down from Maine to visit with their mothers in the central and eastern part of the state.

Both our families (French Canadian for me and Polish for her) had the tradition of opening some presents on Chistmas Eve and then some more on Christmas morning.

I think I'll be eating that for lunch all week.

We're kind of booring. We have a Christmas Eve dinner of snack items, crackers and cheese, sweet n sour meatballs, smoked meats, etc. We watch a couple of Christmas movies, like Miracle on 34th street, It's a Wonderfull Life, etc, and open one present. Next morning somebody plays "Santa" and passes out the gifts which we open one at a time. A nap is usually in order some time late morning, or early afternoon, then a traditional baked ham dinner.

We'll be having our dinner here in about an hour.

Merry Christmas to you all.

We do most of the celebrating Christmas eve as well. Just easier for us.

So then on Christmas morning we usual wake up with a hangover.

Other then that we really don’t do anything.

My wife, daughter and I always have our celebration on Christmas Eve. That leaves Christmas Day open for the extended family gatherings. This year, I am working on Christmas. Somebody has to take care of the sick and injured you know.

Patrick

Our whole family gathers at my Dad's place on Christmas eve for a huge dinner that "must " have three types of seafood. Normally its shrimp, scallops, and squid. Along with alot of other great stuff. After dinner is done we all gather in the living room and open gifts. Afterwards, the men go to my Father's den to watch Football / or Movie and sip wine. The women stay in the living room and talk. { I think thats what they do :-) } The party normally goes on until late.

Christmas Morning, I gather with my own kids. We open gifts, have breakfast, then go to church. The rest of the day is spent visting friends. My family has been celebrating Christmas more or less this way since long before my Father was born.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
Harry

Well, here at the McConnell house, we always eat pizza as the Christmas Eve dinner. Thanks for your time.

Some family and close friends were away this Christmas,so my wife didn't do the Christmas Eve drop by eats/spread(ham,breads,side dishes)So we went out for an early seafood dinner and then home for movies.Christmas Day we get up early,open a few gifts,have high-grade coffee,then off to her folks house where her mom(who loves me ) serves up breakfast of homemade tamales topped with enchilada sauce,salsa,and a couple fried eggs. Bacon and tortillas on the side.More gifts with them and other family that cruises in.Kids,toys,football on TV,naps until dinner.My Dad-in-law and I BBQ a nice rack of prime rib and my wife's sis makes Yorkshire pudding.No diets allowed! :-) :-) :-)
cheers!

Same as most..one gift on Christmas eve.Then we all share in reading "Twas the nite before Christmas" .All gifts wrapped and under the tree at that time..come morning..my girls know its time to come out and see what Santa brought and if he ate the food we left for him..(dads late nite snack)..By playing John Lennons." So this is Christmas".think Im off on the title..All gifts that are piled and unwrapped were brought by Santa..though my girls are 20 and 13..the gleam in their eyes and smiles on their faces...still make this old guy ..wipe the bug out of his eyes!

We sacrifice beautiful blonde women, and then we feast on turkey.

No, Just kiddin. I usually end up making the rounds to everybodys house to pick up girfts and eat. Start out at grandmas, and then make my way home...stuffed!


~Chip :-)