My friend Bethany posted a list of her Christmas favorites, and I thought it was a fun idea, so I am following suit!
Photo: Warneke Christmas, mid-1990s
Smell: Christmas trees. I’m allergic, so Jesse and I have a fake tree, but when I was walking past the lot at IKEA this week, I was reminded of how much I like the smell! Also, Christmas cookies in the oven and hot cocoa.
Tradition: For most of my childhood, Christmas celebrations looked like this: going to church on Christmas Eve (oftentimes to a church in Long Beach with a stop at a neighboring Fuddrucker’s first), then coming home and getting lots of snacks ready. We would have sausage and cheese and crackers with my sister’s favorite cranberry mustard, crescent roll wrapped little smokies, orange slices, eggnog, and shrimp with cocktail sauce. Or occasionally this would be replaced by meat fondue – yum! Then we would open presents. In my family, we open one at a time – none of that ripping into presents all at once. Presents are ooh’ed and aah’ed over individually. Then on Christmas morning, we open stockings.
Flower: poinsettia. Not that these are necessarily my favorite flowers, but I can’t think of many other Christmas flowers!
Movie: Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. Every year we watch this with my family – it’s my dad’s favorite. We all sing along, especially to the “La-La-La” song and the “Razzleberry Dressing” song.
Hymn: Of the Father’s Love Begotten (especially this version, actually called Hope for Resolution), I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (the new version), Away in a Manger, and Angels We Have Heard on High.
Memory: When I was young (3rd or 4th grade), we went to my aunt and uncle’s in Seward, Nebraska, for Christmas. I think it’s the only Christmas I’ve ever had snow. I have vivid flashes of memory from that trip: a cardinal in their backyard, wearing a beautiful Felicity-ish dress to Christmas Eve church, getting the American Girl teddy bear as a gift, driving my grandparents motorhome from Denver to Seward and re-writing all of the songs from my school’s Christmas program to be about Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. (I was a weird kid. “I love Christmas, Christmas is for me” became “I love chocolate, chocolate is for me.”) My school Christmas programs are probably my second favorite memory, followed by playing handbells in the Christmas concerts at Concordia.
Easy gift: donations to help others through organizations like Compassion, World Vision, and Samaritan’s Purse. This has been our main gift to family the past two years and we love knowing that others are being helped rather than Christmas being all about us. Plus, it’s really fun to pick out the best “cause” for each person.
Sight: kids dressed up as characters from the Nativity.
Dislikes: Santa Claus, plus feeling like a lot of people don’t “get” Christmas, even most Christians… even me!
** What are your Christmas favorites?
I’m allergic to trees, too, but Kayse (Jon Pratt’s wife–they’re our neighbors!) introduced me to Bath and Body Work’s candle “Fresh Balsam” (or maybe it was “Evergreen”). It really smells like the real thing and makes me feel better about having a dumb ol’ fake tree :)
I haven’t seen Mr. Magoo’s Christmas Carol. I’ll have to look it up!
♥ Bethany