Christmas Traditions

My friend here in Korea, Lynn, tagged me to fill out this (very fun) Christmas meme. Hope you enjoy learning a little more about our family's traditions.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
Under the tree, I usually wrap gifts, but if something isn't easy to wrap, a bag is a great alternative. Before going to a Christmas party, I usually grab a gift bag from the stash in my closet. Kids presents should almost always be wrapped....better pictures, more noise, more mess to make it look like a fun Christmas morning. I also wrap stocking stuffers...which are normally my favorite gifts to open!
2. Real tree or artificial?
Every year except this year has been a real tree. We really enjoy cutting down our tree if possible. I love the fresh pine smell! This year my "winter pine" candle will have to provide the smell for us!
3. When do you put up the tree?
Which one? I normally have a tree of some kind in most rooms of our house! Usually right after Thanksgiving is when Marc, Ana, and I decorate our "big tree". Then Ana decorates her tree by herself for her room. Then I decorate a tree for our bedroom with special ornaments that Marc gives me every year (in my stocking). We love to sleep with the romantic glow of the lights.
4. When do you take the tree down?
After New Years. The first week of January normally.
5. Do you like eggnog?
I like to have maybe 5 sips of it and that's it. I always look forward to it and think I like it...I will see it in the grocery store and think I should buy it and NEVER do. I normally get a glass of it at a party and never finish it. So maybe I don't really like it!
6. Favorite gift received as a child?
First thing that came to my mind was my bunny, Brioche...but really all our Christmas gifts were perfect. My parents were great at making every gift special.
7. Do you have a nativity scene?
Yes. Marc and I have decided to get a nativity from everywhere we visit. My favorite one is from Russia when we adopted Ana. Another favorite is made from a barn on my mom's side of the family's farm. We have a neat Eskimo one from Alaska too! However, they are all in storage right now! :) I haven't found one from Korea yet...being that it is mainly a Buddhist culture, but I'll keep looking.
8. Hardest person to buy for?
Marc and I both brainstorm together and normally we don't have too much trouble.
9. Easiest person to buy for?
Probably our kitties...they get the same gifts every year...a new collar, treats, and a toy.
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
Can't think of one.
11. Mail or email Christmas cards?
Definitely snail mail! I love the picture cards!
12. Favorite Christmas movie?
We have 4 favorites that are a must every year...Christmas Story, Christmas Vacation, White Christmas, and our new favorite is Christmas with the Kranks!
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
All year long. We are normally done before Thanksgiving because I like to get them in the mail the first week of Dec. However, I'm always finishing Ana and Marc up in Dec.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
Can't remember doing this. I have returned gifts though.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
Breakfast waffles, salsa and cheese scrambled eggs made by my dad (just because it was a fun tradition) with hot chocolate. My mom's Christmas cookies. Drew's chocolates from Iowa.
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
clear...however our "big tree" has colored because that was what the family before us was selling before they moved for a great deal...and our room tree DOES have clear! Ana's are colored.
17. Favorite Christmas song
Silent Night in German
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
We normally travel at Christmas.
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
Yes, but only because of the song....
20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
An angel that my mom and dad gave me from Nurnberg, Germany. However, she is safe in a closet at Aunt Pam's house in Ohio and this year is a star.
21. Open gifts Christmas Eve or morning?
Growing up it was morning! Sometimes we got to open one gift on Christmas Eve. However since we are always with our family members at their houses it varys. This year we will be home and will open them up in the morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
crowds and traffic everywhere........santa everywhere...people celebrating him and not Jesus.
23. What I love most about Christmas?
Where to start.....I love baking cookies, decorating and watching the house transform, sitting in the living room with my husband and daughter doing our advent wreath, snuggling together with the glow of Christmas lights, being with family and friends, Christmas Eve service, finding the perfect gift for someone, dressing Ana in her Christmas outfits, the music, and all of the fun parties that happen around this time of year...just to name a few. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!