Staff Favorites: Holiday Traditions
Traditions are one of the many things that truly make the holidays the most wonderful time of the year. From setting up decorations, to watching your favorite movies, to having gift-wrapping parties, the month of December is filled with magic no matter how you choose to celebrate. This week, our staff is sharing a little bit about what makes this time of year so special to them and their loved ones.
Anna
"As a foodie at heart, the thing I love most about the holiday season is the delicious dishes that only come around once or twice a year. Hashbrown casserole is a holiday staple in the Eubanks household, and we always have quiche and sausage balls on Christmas morning."
Barbara
"On Christmas Eve, my grandkids and their parents spend the night, and we have hot chocolate and watch Christmas movies. Christmas morning is all about Santa and the presents since the kids are little. We have a brunch-type meal with the same breakfast casserole and homemade biscuits each year. Then, we clean up the mess, crowd around the Nintendo Wii system, and play Rock Band- with the Nintendo drums, two guitars, and a microphone- and we have SO much fun! My family has been doing this for years; before the Wii, it was karaoke."
Caitlin
"This is a tough choice for me because I really do love everything about the Holidays. The movies, the décor, the shopping, the gift-giving. But if I had to choose one thing about them that makes them my absolute favorite time of year, it’s got to be the EATING! My Mom is the best cook I know and there are just a few things that she only makes during the Holidays. There’s cherry pie, coconut cake, homemade fudge (can you tell I have a sweet tooth?!), but there’s also the truly perfect sandwiches made from leftovers and the never-ending supply of snacks and spiced Christmas punch. Nobody creates a Holiday spread like Mom, and it’s my favorite part of my favorite time of year."
Margaret
"My earliest memory of Christmas traditions was to go to bed early on Christmas Eve and rise very, very early on Christmas morning to unwrap gifts and see if Santa ate some of the cookies we left for him."
Olivia
"Christmas Eve – my husband and I always save It’s a Wonderful Life for Christmas Eve night, so we only watch it one time a year.. This WAS my favorite- until we had kids! NOW…Christmas Day – we bake a cake, decorate it with tons of sprinkles, light a candle, and sing “Happy Birthday” to Jesus first thing in the morning… This way we start the day by remembering Jesus FIRST 😊"
Randy
"One of my favorite memories is always watching “The Christmas Story” while wrapping Christmas presents scattered all over the floor of the house two nights before Christmas. This time gave me a solitude time to reflect on family and friends and what they mean to me as I wrapped each gift selected with love for that person. Of course, realizing that the greatest gift to celebrate was the Birth of the One Who Was, and Is, and Is To Come."
Rebecca
"My favorite holiday tradition is listening to Christmas songs and doing Family Karaoke to those songs."
"Each year I love driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations, & going to stores for their Christmas open houses."
Sam
"Kicking off Christmas music listening with the Shoals Symphony, watching It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve, catching as many Christmas parades as possible, and, of course, opening gifts with family are some of my favorite traditions!"