1. My entirely family gathers in one house. That's approximately 40 of us in my grandma's house.
2. We all go to church together. (Don't smite me, but it's the only time I go to church so it's pretty special.)
3. We have a big buffet style feast. EVERYTHING is homemade! (My grandma will scold you if you bring food from a store.) And it's MEDITERRANEAN style. Some people do hams or turkey. We do kibbe and grape leaves! (Yum Yum!) If you're wondering why we do this, it's because my grandfather was Lebanese and Syrian.
4. We open presents on Christmas Eve! We open presents from Grandma and then we play a White Elephant game. I don't know if anyone knows what this is, but here's the gist...Everyone brings one unlabelled present and places it in the middle of the room, everyone draws numbers, the person with the number 1 has to choose a present in the middle and open it, then share what the present is with the rest of the family, the person with the number two can then steal that present or choose from the middle, and so on, and so on. It's a hundred times more fun than exchanging presents! Oh! We also have a $25 limit so no one goes too crazy.
5. SNOW! We get so much beautiful snow and all the cousins go out and play in it! We have snowball fights, build forts, go sledding, and snowmobiling!
6. CARDS! My entire family is filled with card playing FREAKS! We have one book that records everyone's score from the last 20 years or so. What games do we play, you ask? I don't know if anyone will know what these games are (I've only met one other person who knows what I am talking about) but we play Hand and Foot, and Shang Hai! SO MUCH FUN!
Well, that's what makes Christmas Eve the best day of the year for me!
How about you guys...
Is Christmas Eve your favorite day of the year? If so, why? If not, which day is?
What are you doing for the Christmas weekend?
I can't wait to hear all of your stories when I get back on Sunday!
We used to do #4, but we called it a gift exchange. I took part in it the last couple years we did it. Haven't done it in a while, though.
ReplyDeleteYeah, never heard of those card games. But one game we love to play is Mexican Train, the dominoes game. Ever heard of it?
Christmas Eve isn't exactly my favorite. Christmas Day is because that's when we open presents, go to church, and see all the family (who live in the area). Christmas Eve is at our house, and my mom's best friend and her family come over for dinner. Before that, my dad's mom and aunt come over to give us our presents from them, and my other grandma lets me and my brothers each open one gift from her. I'm kinda anxious for that to happen this year since all I asked for was money for my new laptop. I'm a bit interested to see how much I'll get.
Merry Christmas AubrieAnne!
Sounds like your Christmas is pretty special! Our family's tradition which we started a few years ago is for the older of us brothers to go out at midnight on Christmas Eve (or early Christmas morning, rather) after everyone else is asleep and chop down a Christmas Tree, set it up, decorate it and the whole house so that everyone goes to bed in a normal house, and wakes up to eat Christmas breakfast and open presents in a "winter wonderland." It's so great to see the looks on our little brother's and parents faces when they come out to see the house transformed.
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas, Aubrie!
Sounds like a great time at your grandmother's. Our family has always been fairly small so never a big gathering.... Enjoy.....
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to you!! Christmas Eve is my favorite too! We dance, open gifts, eat, talk, play. It's just an amazing day. Have fun tonight! :)
ReplyDeleteSounds like a special time! I hope you had a great time this year and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteI am truly envious. I've never had such a special Christmas Eve or Christmas day. In fact, I'm spending both home alone.
ReplyDeleteChristmas Eve is a fabulous day. I am glad you enjoyed it, especially with your family. There is nothing more important. Have a terrific Christmas Day!
ReplyDeleteSarah...No, I've never heard of those games. Are they fun. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeletePatrick...That's a GREAT tradition! Merry Christmas!
Kim...Small celebrations can be nice too. They all have their perks. Merry Christmas!
Grace...Your Christmas Eve sounds just as fun and wonderful as mine. That's very cool. Merry Christmas!
DocKev...I hope you all of your family had a great Christmas too! Merry Christmas!
Matt...That's a bummer. Well, I hope you found something fun to do. Merry Christmas!
JJ...There is definately nothing more important! I hope you were able to spend this holiday weekend with family as well. Merry Christmas!
Hope you had a fabulous christmas Aubrie. X
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really wonderful! Sorry to hear that you were sick but glad you are feeling better! Hope you were able to enjoy some of the festivities! I love reading about Holiday Traditions! We also do a similar exchange, but we call it a "Yankee Swap"! Its much more fun, I agree!
ReplyDeleteI am swinging by from the Weekend Blog Hop and following =) Would love if you came and visited us too at Just Married with Coupons
Happy Holidays!
Shah...Thank you. I hope you had a good one too!
ReplyDeleteJust Married...Thanks I was able to enjoy a lot of the festivities considering we did most of our stuff on Christmas Eve and I was fine then. I did suffer a bit through cards christmas night lol, but it was soooo worth it. i had so much fun. I'll definately come and check out your blog. Thanks for finding me!
I always enjoy the food. So much to eat and share with family and friends. We did gift exchange before. How I wish we can do it again next time. I like your idea of the elephant game and I would like to do it next year. That sounds so exciting.
ReplyDeleteSuertemom...You should definately do a gift exchange again. It's so much fun and works out so well. Plus, no one really feels obligated to outshine each other so it never becomes about that.
ReplyDelete