[sjkduke]

What your favorite holiday traditions?

[alicenwonderland]

I like how my family puts up the tree only a week before Christmas. I think it feels more special that way. DH was trying to get me to put it up on Thanksgiving! That's just not how I do it.

[kruff79]

Being military we have Thanksgiving dinner with the "family" we have. This is the first year in the last 7 that its not at my house though, I feel lost. I don't have 2 turkeys and a ham in the fridge, and I haven't started on the pies because I only need to make 3 this year. Its weird for me, I've always had to start cooking the weekend before. We'll put up the tree on Fri, only because I refuse to go anywhere near the stores, and put up all our lights and decorations over the weekend.

I just love everything about Xmas. I love spending time with family, sitting down to a meal together.

[Niamh ૐ]

Christmas is our cultural holiday. We are not Christians, so the holiday has zero religious meaning for us and is strictly cultural. However, we *DO* have a winter holiday in our religion, Yule (the Winter Solstice). It occurs a few days before Xmas. On Yule, we do a family ritual and we open ONE gift each under our Yule tree. That one gift is ALWAYS our new holiday pajamas.

We wear our new PJs the night before Xmas, and while still in them, we open the rest of our gifts on Xmas day.