Every year, families cherish traditions that are unique to their household.
Sophomore Ryan Simpson said he enjoys celebrating Christmas with his family after Thanksgiving night. After leftovers are eaten, the Simpsons enjoy putting up their Christmas tree as they sing along to Christmas music.
“I don’t know when we started it, but we’ve done that every year for as long as I can remember,” Simpson said. “It’s been something my family looks forward to every Thanksgiving to start getting into the Christmas spirit.”
The Simpsons also enjoy decorating Christmas cookies together. Simpson explained that his mom bakes a large batch of cookies cut out as candy canes, snowflakes, snowmen and Christmas trees. Then, his family decorates the cookies together with different colored icing.
“I don’t know when that originated, but I’m pretty sure my mom got that sugar cookie recipe from her mom, so it’s been in our family for a while,” Simpson said.
Junior Kate Hutson said she also enjoys making Christmas cookies with her family. The Hutsons bake cookies on Christmas Eve and are always sure to have a puzzle laying around somewhere to solve, Hutson said. On Christmas morning, after getting ready for the day, they open presents from oldest to youngest.
“Something that I’ve always liked, though, is before we eat, we wait for everyone to sit down and then we pray,” Hutson said. “We have always done it that way, but I’m not sure where it originated.”
Hutson said she believes they pray together to show respect for the quality time their family experiences as they gather together.
“It is a good way for us to all join together,” Hutson said.
Sophomore Thomas Burke and his family choose an alternative meal for their Christmas dinner.
“All of my siblings were really picky eaters growing up, so something like a traditional Christmas dinner just wouldn’t make anyone happy,” Burke said.
Instead, Burke said his mom had them write a list of favorite foods to eat for the dinner, allowing everyone to enjoy Christmas dinner.
“It would always turn out very eclectic and very fun,” Burke said.
Burke said the meal helps his family avoid fighting over what to eat and brings a lot of personality to their family time.
