My favorite winter tradition is getting my family together for a nice meal, with a healthy round of Trivial Pursuit afterwards. We never get together any other time of year. Filling the house with laughter is the absolute best.

My nuclear family is spread out all over the country, so we haven’t spent the holidays together in quite some time, but my husband and I have a tradition I love, which is delivering meals to homebound people through Community Servings on Thanksgiving and Xmas. It’s such a small gesture, but it makes us feel really good and helps us remember what the season is all about.

Great site — especially love the wool Dufferin Tunic in lime!

My favorite holiday tradition? hard to pick just one… the gingerbread cooking decorating contest is a personal fave; the clementine in the bottom of hte stocking a close second; that magical moment of the first snowfall, or making snow angels… but mostly, being with family & loved ones.

My favorite moments around the holidays are when I can share in new traditions. Everyone has personal, unique winter holiday traditions and I always feel lucky to be asked to participate.

One of my favorite examples of this is a bit Web 2.0 – so bear with me a moment… First a Bit o’ Background: I work for Linden Lab, (creators of the virtual world Second Life) on their Community team and each year, I work with a wide range of international communities who celebrate their personal and community traditions with everyone else during the winter holidays.

Ahem. Now then.

A few years ago, I was invited to share in a menorah lighting ceremony within SL. As someone who is not Jewish, I have never seen attended any official Jewish ceremonies and was very excited and honored to participate in their Hanukkah celebration. It was especially helpful to be able to follow along with the words to the blessings online (something that would’ve been trickier to do in real life heh). The ceremony was so lovely and I found my eyes filling with tears as the stories were shared and the candles were lit.

I posted an image of the space here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/jeska-linden/SecondLifeWinterFestival-Menorah.jpg

[...] a multitude of fabulous holidays (Christmas, Hanukkah, Eid, the New Year) and online eco-boutique Jute and Jackfruit wants to hear about your favorite [...]

My favorite holiday tradition is after a big feast with Thanksgiving type foods, we sit around the fireplace and watch a movie. Every year we always watch elf, which is one of my favorite Christmas movies. I like to bake things like brownies and cookies and drink hot chocolate too

My favorite holiday tradition is decorating the house and making wreaths with my mom! It’s a peaceful break during the hectic season and it gives us a chance to renew our bond!

I love this time of year, especially as decorations go up (on houses–not in stores when it’s still October!). My favorite tradition is decorating my own home–pulling up the Christmas tree and the boxes of ornaments–vintage ones that my mom collected and has passed down to me and a collection of ones that my mother-in-law began when my husband was a baby and adds to every year. Marveling over these ornaments and all the stories and memories laden in them is so enriching and a wonderful way of reflecting over where we’ve been, what we have to be thankful for, and be encouraged about where we’re going. I also love searching around the house for makeshift holiday decorations–pulling together a hodge podge of green and white candles, grabbing a swatch of green fabric to use as a festive runner or cutting holly leaves out of felt to accent the table centerpiece. There’s so much room for creativity, and I love a good challenge! So even though it’s only December 2, my home is already dressed for the occassion, allowing us time to luxuriate in the beauty, hope and anticipation of the season!

My favorite holiday tradition is when our family drinks fresh eggnog while decorating the tree. We usually decorate it on the Saturday after Black Friday. It’s so much fun!

My favorite tradition would be when my mom, sisters and I get together in the kitchen and bake all kinds of cakes and cookies! We have fun hanging out and making sweet stuff

We hear Mass on Christmas day and have a wonderful dinner.

I love when our tree is up and our little doggie gets to sleep underneath. Sounds silly but he just loves being under it.

My favorite family tradition is going to church on Christmas Eve and then to my parents to open presents. The next day we get together for a big Christmas dinner.

Getting together with family, sitting around a crackling fire, … pie

I love the baking! Baking cookies…. pies…. fudge… rice crispy bars… more cookies! ALL of it! Then, of course, there is always eating it too! : )

My favorite tradition is what my mom’s sisters call Reindeer Games. Several nights before the family Christmas they all get together to fill everyone’s christmas stockings, play games with prizes, laugh and a little drinking may occur. I felt so special when I got past 30 and was able to join in the Reindeer Games.

My favorite tradition is walking on the decorated city, drinking an hot chocolate! Love it!

My favorite moment is watching my kids find what Santa brought them. (And they are now teenagers but they still get excited!

We always attend the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at our church-fills me with Christmas spirit.

When I went to college my parents started sending me a Chanukah care package, containing many gifts individually wrapped and numbered according to which night they should be opened. They still do this. I’m 37.

This year, however, many of the gifts will be for their new grandchild (she’s 7 months old) and I look forward to seeing the candles reflected in her eyes.

A tradition my family has is picking a theme each Christmas and dressing up to it. Last year we all wore animal prints in some way, and the year before that we wore silly Christmas sweaters. This year I think we’re going to choose plaid!

My favorite holiday tradition is centered on the children in my extended family. Each nuclear family opens presents at home and then around 4 or 5 PM, my extended family comes over to my house. Each family drops off a set of gifts (mainly for children). And around 7 (after everyone has arrived) there are MOUNTAINS of gifts for the children 12 and under. After eating, we sit and I pass out gifts to the children and their parents. And then the ripping of paper commences, everything is strewn everywhere!!! There are expressions of happiness after receiving toys and nonchalance after receiving clothes! Finally, there are mounds of paper strewn about the living room, taller than each child. Some of the younger kids like to throw the paper around, as if that would have been present enough! I grew up with this tradition, and now at the age of 26, I sit back and revel in it…

my favorite tradition is just making all the food with my family!

My favorite holiday tradition is making homemade donuts on christmas eve with my Grandma. Now, I do it with my kids and they love eating the donut holes as we make them. They are delicious and we are creating great memories.

my husband and I started the tradition of decorating the tree on Christmas eve…last year it was quite the surprise to my son who was 3 to come down and see the tree all lit up.

we also mostly give handmade gifts which makes the season busy and special in its own way.

My favorite holiday tradition started a few years ago when I got married. Every Christmas Eve, my Father-in-Law hides our gifts and writes riddles that have clues that describe where to find the gifts. Even though we’re all over 30, it brings out the kids in all of us (and the kids enjoy it too). And every year, my mother-in-law gives us jammies (but first we have to find them first).

A few years ago our kids decided we were not going anywhere on Christmas day, so we stay home and then venture out for Chinese food. On Christmas Eve we host the “Christmas Eve Extravaganza”– a big potluck party for all our friends without family in the immediate vicinity and those looking to wear out their kids before Santa comes!

My favorite holiday tradition is a bit unusual, and seemingly not terribly related to the holidays. I am from upstate New York, but my brothers and sisters and I are spread out over Massachusetts and Colorado. My brother in Colorado flies into Boston and he makes the 6 hour drive back home to our parents house with me and my sister. Those 6 hours in the car together are some of the best, most fun times of the entire holiday. We are able to catch up, crack each other up, and make a lot of great memories together. Once we get to NY and the whole family is there and all the Christmas pressure is on, it’s not as easy to connect, but the 3 of us are fortunate to have had the car trip together. Some of my favorite Christmas memories are of those car trips – jokes we shared and stories we told. The atmosphere of the car trip exemplifies what the holidays mean – cherished time with family.

I love so much about the Christmas season: listening to music by Ella Fitzgerald, Dean Martin, and Andy Williams; attending performances of The Nutcracker; buying and making seasonal food such as my three-day cookies and Hillshire Farms; and driving around looking at all of the Christmas lights. But my favorite tradition is decorating. I inherited a lot of things from my deceased mother and grandmother, and my two sons have made so many ornaments and paper decor. I have a terribly kitschy, sentimental tree with styrofoam balls covered in glitter, clay stars, bead wreaths, etc. I have old paper snowflakes taped to all the wood trim in the living room. Every year my fridge is covered with wish lists from first grade. It really reminds me of what Christmas means to me – love, and family.

Every Christmas, my family goes to my Grandmother’s house to celebrate with a big lunch (complete with ham, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, and sugar cookies!). There are about 25 of us now, and it’s so nice to see everybody each year. After that, my family goes back home and we watch a good Christmas movie or the Sound of Music. I can’t wait!

For me its all about food and presents. LOL I LOVE surprising my wife with gifts she would never remember wanting (I keep a list of things she says in passing throughout the year and then pick from that for holiday gifts). I also love baking with my wife and just having great quality time with her and our nine fur babies (cats).

My favorite thing about the holidays is our annual holiday light drive. Every year, my hubby and I take an evening and drive thru all the neighborhoods in our area to look at the holiday lights. We take hot chocolate and play our favorite holiday tunes. Its so much fun and it always gets me in the holiday spirit.

my favorite holiday tradition is making fresh donuts with the family and then playing dreidel for candy coins!

Oh my! There are sooo many to chose from! Listening to X-Mas and making a gingerbread house and going to see the Nutcracker are tied for 1st! Thank you for the awesome opportunity!