Christmas Eve Countdown - 7 Days

There are a lot of ways to look at the Christmas season. We celebrate Christmas on December 25th, not because we know for sure that Jesus was born on that day, but because it is a day that has been selected to celebrate that event.

Of course, we really do not know if He was not born on that day. There are many theories on when Jesus was born, and none of us knows the answer for sure. Nevertheless, we are going to celebrate this day, or, if you are like my family and me, we are going to celebrate this season of Christmas with many different expressions.

We have many family traditions as well as new traditions we have recently made. I guess it will come to the place where we will have to pick and choose our activities as they are beginning to overlap in their scheduled times that they should take place.

What are some of the traditions you or your family have during the Christmas season?

Here are some of the ones we started when we were first married and setting up our household:

* Going to see the lights at Conway (an area in S. Orlando, Florida) on Christmas Eve
* Celebrating Christmas with my family on Christmas Eve
* Celebrating Christmas Day with my husband's family
* Going to see the live Nativity at a local Presbyterian church

Today, we have some added traditions:

* Going to see the lights at Conway, or perhaps another place, on Christmas Eve if it isn't raining
   (we went one year the day before Christmas Eve and saw a boat parade!)
* Going to see the live Nativity (if it is happening)
* Going to Epcot and watching the live processional
* Having some kind of Christmas party with our church friends and family
* Having Christmas Eve breakfast at our house to accommodate our grown children and their families
* Christmas Eve evening at my mom's house (my dad passed away almost 31 years ago)
* Visiting a town called Palatka on Christmas Day to see my husband's sister's family
* Visiting my husband's sister's family on Christmas Eve
* Doing the parade in early December with our church group
* Having a surprise Christmas dinner with my family
* Going to this extravagantly decorated and lit house in the area

We did start caroling, but there was not enough interest for us to have a group.

What are some of your traditions that you have started?