Holiday Traditions

“Every year we get a real tree with our kids. Come home to decorate it. My husband makes hor d'oeuvres while me and the kids decorate the tree while we listen to Christmas music and Christmas movies. Every year I get a Christmas ornament to give to each of my kids and husband that commemorates the year. So when my children move out and get their own tree they will have ornaments from their childhood.”

- Melissa Hotchkiss Wright

There is one certainty every Christmas in my family. At 8 PM on Christmas Eve the 24-hour “A Christmas Story” marathon will get turned on. And no one is allowed to change the channel until 8PM on Christmas Day.

- Alex Acevedo

“Every year, my family has a traditional Slovakian Christmas Eve Dinner. We each drizzle honey on oplatki (a bread wafer) and share what we’re thankful for.”

- Beth Coulter

“My grandma, who is now in Heaven, needlepointed my stocking as well as both of my daughters. When I hang the stockings each year I always think of her. The stockings are one of my favorite things about Christmas.“

- Adrienne Fernandez

“My great-aunt would purchase and mail one pound of torrone (Italian nougat candy) from Italy to each of her nieces and nephews in the United States and Canada. She would lovingly wrap the candy so that it would not break apart, hand-sewing each package in a cloth wrapper. It would arrive whole and delicious several weeks before Christmas each year.”

- Rita Piccin

“When I was a child, my grandma would always set up the express train set around our family’s Christmas tree before making cookies. I remember the joy I felt from smelling the sweet aromas of the kitchen as I watched the train singing classic Christmas songs.”

- Mackenna Willis