So, how many people out there know what I'm talking about?
Some of my earliest childhood memories are of Christmas. Like the memory of the local fire dept. driving a fire engine with Santa on the back down each and every street so that every kid got to tell Santa his Christmas wishes (or wants). Or that wondrous smell of a Christmas tree in my house after having an artificial tree for several years. How many of us associate Christmas with that tree smell? I know I do!
I had a teacher in high school who grew up in New England and said that the smell of oranges always reminded him of the holidays. Huh? He told me that then getting fresh citrus on the east coast was expensive and rare and that at Christmas time as a special gift, they would each get an orange. Now I know I take oranges for granted!
Remember as a kid on Christmas Eve having that nervousness of Santa coming...and 'what is he going to bring me'...'have I been naughty or nice?'. I know some of you are saying, ' I still feel that way'. :) Good!
Traditions...
...with my family, we would get up in the morning, get dressed, and have breakfast...yes, all before opening our gifts! That can be torture for a kid! Anyway I survived. Next we read out of the bible, the real 'Christ'mas story, we would pray and then open presents. What can I say my dad's a preacher. As much as it seemed to 'pain' me as an impatient kid, it is now a 'tradition' Rachel and I do in our house as well.
For a couple of years my dad had the 'brilliant' idea of getting our tree on Christmas Eve! Yes, I said Christmas Eve! Talk about last minute decorating...I think he did it so that he could say that he only spent $5 for a tree, because tree lots were getting rid of their inventory. Or it was the miniscule pastor's salary that he received. Anyway, that 'tradition', needless to say didn't last.
Another tradition we do now is draw names for gift giving within our family(us, my parents, Aunt Rachel, my brother...) and makes gift giving a little more personal and definitely is easier on the wallet. I find it unsettling that a lot of people go in to debt over Christmas.
Comment and tell me what are some memories or traditions you guys have or had. I 'd love to read them as I'm sure others would too.
And to all of you who are in school... you've made it! Finals are over and Christmas break is here!! Be proud of yourselves and enjoy your families.
Peace.
And goodwill toward all people. :0}
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4 comments:
Your Christmas morning sounds a lot like ours! Every year, when my dad was still the pastor at our church, our family would make inbetween 25 and 30 huge cinnamon rolls for our church. And I'm not talking the typical, rolled up, one-serving size roll. I mean, each one serves, oh... at least 15 people. We did different flavors (maple pecan, cherry, or plain cinnamon) and different shapes (braids, wreaths, or Christmas trees)... they were always the talk of the church. So GooD!! So now that my dad has retired, we don't make aS MaNy, but we still make enough for our rather large families. We love to bake together, and even though our house is small, we pack our ever-increasing family in it Christmas morning... have some warm rolls... read the story and pray... and then open gifts. The older my siblings and I get, I think the more we appreciate this tradition. (It was awfully rough when we were younger!)
Another thing we do every year with our extended family (my mom's side - there's 40 all together!): we go Christmas caroling. Not all 40 actually go, cuz some are teenage boys and don't get into it... :) But we all load up into 5 or 6 minivans and go around to all of my grandparents elderly friends. And I'll have to be honest, we sound pretty good! :) I love it SO much!
I am so blessed to have the family I do - that even though there's a lot of us, we all LoVe being together, and we all get along really well. I love my family, and I love that I'm able to be home during this time and I get to be apart of all our fun traditions! I hope you thoroughly enjoy your time with your family, and continue to praise God for his gifts to us all - family, a full and meaningful life, and his son, our Emmanuel. Merry Christmas LeBrun's!!
What's up Aaron? It was nice to see your post on my site.
It's all about Swedish Meatballs and a nasty fish dish called Lutefisk on Christmas Eve. It's both good and bad being Swedish. Meatballs = good. Aged Cod in cream = bad.
Bea and I have started a tradition of eating sweet tamales on Christmas morning. We also do a freaking ton of driving visiting both sides of the family.
Wait...I know I'm forgetting something...presents??...not...oh yeah...Jesus.
Sweet tamales, Eric? Do you have a little Latino blood in you? Probably part of growing up being one of the white 'homies' in your neighborhood like me. Good to hear from you.
i like going to christmas eve service and just being with my family...cant wait actually!
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