Christmas Traditions

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I tend to listen to Christmas music all year long, I love to make gifts, so I start planning what to make fairly early in the year, & I put up my tree this year the first week in November. There are just so many things that I love about this time of year, & I don't think it hurts to be reminded of everything just a little bit early.
My husband & I don't have many traditions of our own aside from going to spend Christmas with my family, but I'm sure we'll do more now that Sharon is around.
One of the traditions that my family started when I was young was instead of having the "traditional" Christmas Eve dinner of a turkey or ham (because we just did that for Thanksgiving), we chose a different country each year & then had a meal of authentic food (or as close as we could make it) & watched a video tour of the country checked out from the library or learned about their Christmas/major holiday traditions. We also make or buy an ornament to represent that country on our Christmas tree. It is always so fun to try new cuisine, & especially fun to find out what things you do and don't like. Some of the countries that I've enjoyed the most (or remember the most) are Australia when we had humongous steaks for dinner, Native American (not a different country, but definitely a different culture) when my husband & I brought squirrel and elk for my family to try, Hawaii (again, different culture) when my mom made bowls from a chocolate shell filled with homemade coconut icecream topped with fruit, to look like a real coconut, Ecquador when we had avocado soup & shrimp cocktails, & there are so many more that were so much fun!
I asked my mom last night if there had been discussion as to what country to do this year, & she is leaning toward India. Bring on the curry!
I would have to say that this is one of my favorite Christmas traditions, because it is so different from anything else we'd ever done & it always produces wonderful & lasting memories!