Do you have any xmas traditions?

[NaeNae]

We are starting a few traditions, just not too sure how we will manage them this year with a newborn.

Usually, there is a mad rush to find the "perfect tree" and decorate it a week before Christmas

Christmas Eve DH and I go to his church's midnight mass (that starts at 9ish) he drags me kicking and screaming because the last few years the service person has been very "anti other religions and homosexuals" and some how manages to spend the entire service whinging about that - not very Christian in my opinion.

Christmas day we spend at home (and will always do so from here on in) I usually cook a large roast and we have PIL and SIL up to the house. Depending on what other family members do sometimes we get the other BIL and his family there as well. My Mum always goes out to her folks place on Christmas day so we never see my family on Christmas.

Boxing Day - we usually go out to my folks place and Mum puts on a bbq or something its usually a big day for us as its a 2 hour drive to their place one way (doubt very much we'll be doing that this year)

Then we eat left overs for a week

I do love Christmas. This year I have specifically told Dh that we will go to the proper Chrissy tree farm as I want to get a 10ft tree so it almost hits the roof. I love the smell of pine throughout the house.

Nae x

[smiles4u]

My family all laugh at me every 2nd Xmas i spend with them as they love watching me struggle to get the paper party hat out of the Xmas cracker to fit my big head

(( From the very 1st year that Kmart introduced the Xmas Wishing Tree (about early 1990's) i was young living out of home & working full-time & studying with no dependents at the time & i would purchase a toy for a boy & girl age 10 at $20 each ... then after doing this for about 5years a friend of mine at the time & a few of her neighbours in a block of commission flats whom were all couples with one or two children living on pensions but earning cash in hand for their undeclared full-time jobs laughed at how they could go & ' collect ' these toys for their kids which they DID even though they were NOT financially struggle (they were earning$ more than i) ... I was so upset by this that i never donated a toy ever again as it so put me off donating in this way again !!! ... Sadly in a way they muck it up for other children that desperately need a toy for Xmas ))

I pop a Xmas card in neighbours (that i'm not close to) letterboxes that i know have had a hard year so as to hopefully give them a smile for that moment

Each Xmas DP video's DD putting the star on the Xmas tree so in years to come we all will see the change in her growing up at Xmas doing the exact same thing (1st Xmas as a bub of course i helped her)