December traditions....

[Guest]

Saturday, December 6, 2008, was my parents' 35th Annual Christmas Open House. The event started out as a "thank you" to those that helped them move into their home. It has grown ever since, and many people look forward to it as a way to "kick off" the holiday season. It takes a lot of preparation (decorating, making treats, etc.), but it is well worth it, whether 80 or 30 people attend.


Do you have any long-standing December traditions that you look forward to every year?



Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...MidW Blast = 01/17/09
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"I don't know if there'll be snow" ... Burl Ives ... 'Have A Holly Jolly Christmas'

 

[CThrock]

Hi Cort,
I used to have an Open House every year. Have'nt had one for the last couple years due to alot of health issues. Would like to start it up again but not sure when. We have alot of family traditions we do like fondue, christmas punch,
white elephant gift exchange( because there's so many of us)Candle light services at our churches, to name a few. We love this time of year and always make time for family and friends.
Like to hear some others and there Christmas traditions!!!

 

[hensylee]

all my traditions went out the window years ago. My 'little' sister has begun a new one, tho. With our older sister and brother and our parents gone, she has begun coming all the way from Dallas to spend Christmas with me. How wonderful to be able to start new traditions when the old ones just go by the wayside. Thanks for bringing this up, Cort. I think this is a great time of year to talk about our traditions - no matter what time of year. Everyone has them, so let's hear yours, everyone. I love hearing how others celebrate.

I know you enjoyed your folks' 'party'. Last month my children arranged a birthday party for me and all family and some friends were there. What a lovely time of get-together. Everyone should do it.

 

[Guest]

I used to have an Open House every year. Have'nt had one for the last couple years due to alot of health issues. Would like to start it up again but not sure when.

Sorry your health issues have curtailed your open house. Even in the years Dad was having problems with his kidneys ... and the year Mom gave him a kidney ... they still forged on with the open house. Sometimes, I wondered why ... and how they were doing it, but they did. And, I'm glad for it. It's a chance to mingle and talk to people you don't see very often. Sure hope you are able to start yours again soon.

How wonderful to be able to start new traditions when the old ones just go by the wayside.

I need to keep this in mind more often.....

Last month my children arranged a birthday party for me and all family and some friends were there. What a lovely time of get-together. Everyone should do it.

Amen! Glad you had a wonderful time with that, Ann .

 

[Ross]

No longer I'm afraid. Once upon a time, going to other persons parties and such was fun, but that is all a distant memory now.

 

[Mary]

In 1981 we had just moved into our new home, and a new Christmas tree farm had just opened about 20 miles south of Cape Girardeau. We loaded the kids up--we only had 4 at the time--and had a great time walking through the woods and selecting a tree to be cut for our new home.
Twenty seven years have passed, but we still make the trek to Gunther's Yule Log Cabin. Circumstances have changed. The trees are now brought in from North Carolina, and we reserve the one we want (based on the previous year's purchase) in October.
We have many memories associated with getting our Christmas tree. One year we were dealing with my mother's cancer and had spent the days from Thanksgiving to mid-December helping her recover from surgery for the nonHodgkin's lymphoma. It was really late to look for a tree, but I called Joanie, Gunther's proprieter and asked if there were any trees left. She said not really, but she had a tree in her truck that was destined for her own house. If we wanted it, just meet her at her place. . . . it was ours. I don't think we would have put a tree up that year without her genorosity, but we did, and so the tradition continues.
This year we drove down the first Saturday in December and picked up our Christmas tree. We quickly swapped family stories with Joanie, then bid a hasty goodbye because we needed to get back to Cape and the NICU where our new grandson waited.
Many things have changed since we bought that first Christmas tree--births, deaths, marriages, war. But the good will and fellowship we felt that first year still remains and always will.

 

[njean]

Ahh, Christmas traditions ---- how well I remember them & how very much I miss them!

Unfortunately, after my mom & eldest brother passed 4 years ago, & health issues that have plagued all of us, the Christmas get-togethers have become a rarity. Now everyone does their own thing, in their own homes with their own children & grandchilden.

I haven't even finished my Christmas shopping! I start out going into town & I go into a store or the mall & a few minutes later I can't wait to get the heck out of there & I return home, empty handed! I'm gonna try again today & see how long I'll last! Thank God for on-line ordering!

God Bless you all & Merry Christmas you & your families!

 

[escargome]

Now that our kids are grown and no grand-kids are on the horizonWe started a tradition of playing bingo for quarters on Christmas Eve. My sister and her family come over and we all sit-up and chat, laugh and take each others money until well after mid-night. Then our son and daughter with spouses, settle in for the night and my sister who only lives 10 minutes away goes on home. Then on Christmas morning, we all come together again, open gifts and eat tamales.

 

[njean]

Now that our kids are grown and no grand-kids are on the horizonWe started a tradition of playing bingo for quarters on Christmas Eve. My sister and her family come over and we all sit-up and chat, laugh and take each others money until well after mid-night. Then our son and daughter with spouses, settle in for the night and my sister who only lives 10 minutes away goes on home. Then on Christmas morning, we all come together again, open gifts and eat tamales.

I remember as a child, early December, my mom, aunts, neighbors would all converge at our house to make home-made tameles. It took about a week to get everything together because the masa was home-made from scratch (unheard of today!), making the red chile, cooking the pork meat, soaking the ramas (corn huskes), getting the steamers out & ready to use. On the day we made the tamales, we'd form an assembly line each of us responsible for our own little task -- passing the husks, slapping the maza in the husk, spooning the red chile w/meat on the masa, then the last person would wrap the tamale secure in the husks & put the tamale into the steamer for cooking. It took a lot of work to get things together but it was such a wonderful & joyous time!

 

[Dawn-Marie]

I haven't had any family for years since i'm an only child and i'm long divorced from my husband. I just spend it quietly with my cats. I get Maggie and Smudge a stocking with their favorite toys and they get excited as i take each toy out for them. Then, i get them a bag of shrimp as a special treat. I was going to have my friend from high school here Christmas Eve, along with her sister from Pittsburgh and another friend of hers, but her sister got laid off from her job as a Physical Therapist that goes into people's homes, so she can't afford to come up, so Ruth is going to go there for Christmas instead. I'll have a nice time with my cats and lots of Christmas music though ))!

Dawn-Marie

 

[njean]

I wish you a very cozy little Christmas w/your little babies snuggled by your side. You'll be in my thoughts as always!

 

[njean]

I haven't had any family for years since i'm an only child and i'm long divorced from my husband. I just spend it quietly with my cats. I get Maggie and Smudge a stocking with their favorite toys and they get excited as i take each toy out for them. Then, i get them a bag of shrimp as a special treat. I was going to have my friend from high school here Christmas Eve, along with her sister from Pittsburgh and another friend of hers, but her sister got laid off from her job as a Physical Therapist that goes into people's homes, so she can't afford to come up, so Ruth is going to go there for Christmas instead. I'll have a nice time with my cats and lots of Christmas music though ))!

Dawn-Marie

I wish you a very cozy little Christmas w/your little babies snuggled by your side. You'll be in my thoughts as always!

P.S. I meant to put my post w/yours Dawn! Dahh....
__________________

 

[terryj]

Most of my traditions aren't possible this year since the house fire. So. we are doing some things differently. But, we will still all be together as a family to open gifts Christmas Eve and I will cook my traditional Lasagna,Salad and Garlic Bread for Christmas dinner. My son,whom we have not seen in 2 years, is flying in from Arizona the day after Christmas and spending the weekend with us at the apartment.

 

[Guest]

Christmas will be different around here this year, too. We won't get together with the extended family here until January 2.... BUT ... we'll have my sis and her hubby here along with my nephew, James ... I just hope my flu goes away so I can hold him!