Comments on: Christmas with a twist-and a giveaway

By: Narene Ireland

Narene Ireland — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:05:57 +0000

My first introduction to you, Mary, was this weekend when I read “Gingham Mountain.” I enjoyed this book and went to your web site to learn more about other books you have written. I love Christmas and stories with a Christmas theme, and I would be delighted to win your new book! One of our family’s Christmas traditions is doing a nativity pageant on Christmas Eve with a narrator reading the account from Luke in the Bible and including verses from Matthew to bring in the wise men. Family members are the “actors” donning makeshift costumes collected through the years. We end the pageant bringing out a birthday cake for Baby Jesus, singing “Happy Birthday” to Him, and then ending with everyone singing “Silent Night.” We love it best when we have an infant grandchild to take the part of Baby Jesus.

By: Pat Cochran

Pat Cochran — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:24:24 +0000

We’ve been choir members at our church forever
and a day, so one of our traditions is singing
at Midnight Mass. Son#1 has begun his very own
tradition. He comes over on Christmas Eve and
does all the Christmas stockings for me, which
I am always so happy to see! We always gather
at one home for Christmas Day, all 18 of us in
our immediate family. My siblings & families,
my family, and usually several friends all get
together in the week or so before Christmas to
continue a tradition begun when our children
were babies. We always have tamales, which are
traditional in Hispanic families.

Pat Cochran

By: Charlene Sands

Charlene Sands — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 03:54:43 +0000

Hi Mary,
Chiming in late, couldn’t log onto the site today! A fun post – are we thinking about Christmas already? We have so many traditions. We have Christmas eve every year at my sisters house with the entire family, neices, nephews, cousins etc. and in the morning, my grown kids come over for Breakfast and open gifts together, just the four of us. Then we play games and eat some more! My hubby and I love having Christmas afternoon together, just the two of us after the kids leave. We unwind and relax, cause we’re so tired from eating for days and days before!
Gotta have roasted chestnuts too!

By: Mary Connealy

Mary Connealy — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:24:10 +0000

I love all these traditions. The lobster, reading the Christmas story. Home alone and blackberry pie and midnight mass.

It’s been a great day for me.

I’m going to try and get that lobster thing going in my family.

By: Patricia Barraclough

Patricia Barraclough — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 02:01:49 +0000

On Christmas Eve, we would attend midnight mass with my mother’s family (9 brothers and sisters, my grandparents, and dozens of cousins). Afterwards we would all go to my grandparents’ house for breakfast. There were presents for the grandparents and some parents brought gifts for their children. We would get home about 2 AM or so and open our gifts (Santa had come while we were gone). Smart on my parents part. We’d all fall into bed and sleep late the next morning.
Christmas Day we went to my other grandparents’ house for dinner with all of my Dad’s family which luckily wasn’t as large. There would be gifts for everyone afterwards.
We were a military family, so were not able to participate in my family’s traditions except for the few years we were able to be home. We continued the midnight mass – breakfast tradition with our children for a while but without a large family, it isn’t the same. We retired far from our families, but our children are close enough to come for Christmas dinner most years. Midnight mass hasn’t worked out (we live 20 miles from church) but we have been attending the Christmas Eve Children’s Mass and really enjoy it.
Would love to have a real white Christmas, but we are in Tennessee not Upstate New York, so that isn’t likely to happen.