12 Days: Traditions

For me, Christmas is a day of waking up early.  Making a mess with wrapping paper as the gifts are torn open.  French Toast.  Christmas movies.  Pajamas. and sometimes traveling.

For as long as I can remember, I have woken up at the crack of dawn on Christmas, wondering if Santa left us some goodies under the tree and if he ate the cookies that we left out for him to snack on.  I would wake up my brother and sister, if they weren't already awake and then we would sit near the presents, poking and prodding them until we could convince my parents to get out of bed.

Once mommy and daddy were on the couch, presents were distributed to everyone and we tore through the wrapping paper and threw it onto the floor.  I loved seeing how much paper we could accumulate.  Not environmentally friendly, but it was fun. 

After the gifts, it was breakfast time.  In my family, we have Christmas breakfast rather than dinner.  At least, we do at my grandparent's house.  Sometimes I get both if I decide to go to two or three family meals.  But French Toast will always be my Christmas food of choice.  When I was little, I would wake up and my grandpa would already be making breakfast.  French Toast. Eggs.  Sausage.  Bacon.  All the good breakfast foods. 

Then, the next part of the day depends on where I lived.  There is family close to me, here in California so after breakfast, I would probably go visit them.  My cousin just started renting a new house, so she claims she will be hosting Christmas this year!

However, when we moved to Ohio, there wasn't any family near to go visit.  Instead, we designated the holiday as a pajama day.  We didn't have to leave the house, so we didn't have to get dressed.  We would lay on the couch and watch movies all day.  It was spectacular.

The best Christmas I have ever had was when I spent the day at Legoland and a week in San Diego, but even that can't compare to my silly traditions and ideas of how Christmas should be celebrated.  Pretty sure I got French Toast at the hotel that Christmas too...

Please excuse my bad 2009 pictures...

What are some of your favorite holiday traditions?

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