Day 1
(Link up with me and play along....it will be FUN!!) Growing up, we had many Christmas taditions....rather we did a lot of the same things year after year evn though we never really referred to them as being traditional.
[one]
A week or so before Christmas, we started cooking....making candy, cookies, sausage balls, cheese biscuits, trash, salted pecans, etc. The candies were the BEST. Mama made mints, divinity, seafoam, pralines, chocolate fudge, peanut butter fudge, stuffed dates, and candied citrus rinds, just to name some of the confections. I like to do the same but on a much smaller scale than her.
[two]
There were two special ornaments that we always hung in the same place on the tree each year. One was a worn plastic angel and the other was a green aluminum stocking, and both were hung at eye level on the front side of the tree, with the angel above the stocking.
[three]
Cristmas Eve, each of us got to choose one present to open. We could pick any one we wanted, but only one....the rest had to wait until Christmas morning.
[four]
We always had a huge meal for Christmas lunch. Mama made turkey and dressing, rice and gravy, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, cranberry sauce, and about a half dozen more delicious dishes too. We always had a lot of leftovers too, and somehow, Chandler could fit every dish into our refrigerator...she was known as the refrigerator packing queen!
Now that I'm grown and have a family of my own, we have tried to make our own traditions, which are reminiscent of my childhood days.
[five]
Each Christmas Eve night, we go to the candle-light service at our church and then come home and have a soup and sandwich supper for all of our family members who want to come over. This is such a cozy time of family love and togetherness.
[six]
On Christmas morning, our children stay in their rooms until we go to get them up. We come down the hallway as a family to see what Santa Claus has brought. Even though the children are teenagers, we still carry on the same routine each Christmas morning.
[seven]
Usually for lunch on Christmas day, we get together with Chuck's mama and sister and have a meal and exchange gifts. It's a quiet time with way too many gifts, but lots of fun!
[eight]
On Christmas evening, we go out to Bethel UMC to have supper with all of the Creech family. We used to go to Chuck's grandparents' house but since the family is so large, we moved the location to the church fellowship building. It's a lot of fun with so many good things to eat!
I've enjoyed this walk down memory lane and reflecting on our family Christmas traditions. I hope that the things that we do now make an impression on our children and they will continue some of them and make their own traditions when they are grown with families of their own.
