Our Christmas Traditions

I love reading about peoples Christmas Traditions so today I thought I would share with you some of Our Christmas Traditions.

I’m not sure I really realized how different some peoples traditions were until I got married. Sure I knew that my friends did Christmas different than me but until you experience someone else’s Christmas traditions you don’t completely understand. I have loved trying out some new traditions with my husbands family and working to create new ones with him.

Food– We have a tradition with food in my family on Christmas. On Christmas Eve we have Traditional English Pasty. My great grandmother used to make it, then my Papaw John, my mom and now I make it when Tyler and I celebrate our Christmas together. On Christmas morning my family has quiche and grits for breakfast. Tyler and I have begun having my French Toast Casserole for breakfast when we celebrate, which is usually the weekend before Christmas.

Christmas Eve Service– We always attend the Christmas Eve Service at church. Growing up it was always a candlelight service and I was always scared the wax was going to burn me or the person behind me might catch my hair on fire, I have strange fears. But I always look forward to the Christmas Eve Service and I enjoy the candlelight portion a bit more now.

Santa’s Gifts– This is one area where Tyler and I differ a lot in how we grew up. My presents from Santa growing up were almost always unwrapped and put out. We put our stockings in our spot for Santa to leave our gifts. Tyler’s presents from Santa were always wrapped. That will be an interesting one to figure out when we have kids. Maybe we’ll have to alternate each year?

Christmas Day Chaos– I have a big family and a family that is quite insistent on all being together on Christmas. I have never missed a Christmas Day at my Grandma’s. Whether we lived an hour away or eight hours away. We would wake up on Christmas Day, do our gifts, eat breakfast and then drive to my Grandma’s for Christmas Day night. We have dinner, either steak or a traditional ham and sides after that we open gifts and go one by one from youngest to oldest (side note there are 13 of us grandkids + 2 husbands now). Over the years we’ve convinced my Grandma to let us go in pairs. It’s a long, exhausting, but fun day. I love being able to spend Christmas with my family each year!

Christmas Pictures– My Aunt Kellie is our resident family photographer. So before dinner we are all ready to sit in front of the tree and get dozens of photos taken. It’s not so fun when you’ve spent 8 hours in the car but you smile anyways and are thankful for the memories made!

Christmas Phone Call– One of my favorite traditions growing up is that my best friend and I would always call each other on Christmas morning and tell each other everything we got. Now that we’re both married and are going to multiple Christmas’s we text each other. Next year will be even different as she’ll have a little boy so I’ll get to hear everything he got for Christmas too! Times change but some things never do.

The Great Biscuit Bake Off- This one is a favorite. My great grandmother always made the most delicious homemade biscuits. Now my Dad and my Aunt Mel carry on the tradition. Each year they bake their batch of biscuits using the same recipe and we all try both to see whose is better. It goes to show that a lot more goes into it then just throwing together the ingredients. The biscuits are always different and always good, but it’s usually my Dad who wins out! His homemade biscuits just can’t be beat!

These are just a few of our Christmas traditions. I love spending Christmas with my family and we always have a great time. I would love to hear what some of your Christmas traditions are?