What Makes It Special?

Yes, I am getting the spirit of Christmas already.
 
I want to know from each of you what makes Christmas special for you.  Is there a particular custom or tradition your family does?  Is it a special Christmas song?  Movie?  What makes Christmas SO special for you?

I'll start...
For me, it is mailing Christmas cards.
My Great-Grandmother was the "social butterfly" of her community, so she would mail/receive TONS of Christmas cards each Christmas.  It was not only Christmas, but it was other holidays, birthdays, etc. that she mailed out cards...she was a believer in sending cards, lifting other's spirits.  Watching her stuck with me.
I  Christmas cards.  In all honesty, sometimes a Christmas card is the MOST I hear from some people all year long...so, I VALUE my Christmas cards! 
Christmas cards also give my kids an opportunity to open a card from someone...which they LOVE doing!
So, in a nutshell, Christmas cards are special to me during Christmas.
I REALLY ENJOY mailing them as much as I enjoy receiving them!

What about you?  What makes Christmas so special?  Do you do something each Christmas that makes it special? 

Morning Jackie!

Outside the obvious celebration of the Birth of Christ,
time spent with family and friends makes Christmas special to me.

I also enjoy shopping--not so much SPENDING money, but going to the malls and sometimes grabbing a chair and jus****ching others as they shop. Especially enjoyable is watching the wonder of the eyes in children as they gaze at the decorations and share in the
Christmas Spirit.

I can't believe it is "That" time already.

Have a great Sunday!

Carolyn~

Jackie , My SIL bless her soul started a Tradition when she joined our family. Every year the women in the family partake in an Ugly Earring contest . You have to find the ugliest earrings you can, you cannot buy them brand new they have to come from the Thrift store or yard sale .  You have to get every woman there a pair . We have judges and who ever wins as the ugliest gets to make the Lady of their choice sport them for the rest of the day and night. She passed away 8 yrs ago and we made it a pact to keep her alive in our hearts so we do it ever year. I miss her allot !!  and I also have to add that I enjoy getting together with Family and Cooking, making Candies,Cakes  and can't leave out my mothers Fruit Salad she makes every year as we all sit and assist her in cutting up the fresh fruit .

OK for me its food and family also watching grandson open gifts is a joy

Ditto to a lot that has alredy been posted but my DH's fruit salad is to die for..He has made it every year for 43 years and this year wont be any different,he wont let anyone help tho. I usually leave home when he starts.that is his thing,course he smokes,fries or bakes the turkey depends on what the boys want.He helps with the dressing also but I do it just like my Mom did.Its Hen and dressing, no turkey in my dressing.I make a sweet potato casserole that is delicious,plus green beans,mac &cheese,a lot of other fill ins go with the dinner..I have good intentions to do cards but I fall short every year,last year we did ones to the board,that was very nice,and the ones we sent to the military was great..Maybe I will get you one in mail this year who knows,,Juju

CHRISTmas for me meant that it was pretty much the only time I was happy growing up.So it would be memory lane for me as an adult.I knew that when I had children it would mean a whoe lot more because I would teach them.When I met my husband and his family and we had CHRISTmas together we all had our children gather around my grandfather-in-law as he would pull out his Bible and tell all the children we celebrate CHRISTmas because of CHRIST.My grandparents-in-law always lives by the word of the Bible and when my DH calls them they feel they have to preach to us.But I love them because you can just feel the love they have for everybody and teaching all their grandkids and great grandkids and great great granchild the TRUE meaning of CHRISTmas.I am so Blessed to be able to have my kids go over there each year and learn.They are 84 and 83 years old.I know I will miss that when they do finally go to meet Jesus.Maybe we could keep up the tradition.I really fell in love with that.I always look forward each year going to their house with all my kids.I also love the family time we spend together because this is the only time we all get together under the same roof unless a death hits us.That is what makes my CHRISTmas special.Have a Blessed day,my friend.



Spoken With God's Amazing Love,
Brandy

Hey Jackie,

For me it is watching my boys open their present.  Also I started a tradtiion 2 years when my grandmother died.  Each  year my mother and purchase ornaments in honor of my grandmother.  We don't know what each other has purchased.  We purchase 2 of the same, one to keep and one to give to each other.  I have started a Christmas that has the ornaments we purchase on it.  Also I have started lighting a special candle for her each Christmas when we celebrate with it my mom.  It is the same candle.  I also love watching the grandkids and my step-daughter and their husbands open their gifts.  BUT most of all I love going to church Christmas Eve and celebrating HIM!!  The program is so special and very up lifting. 

Love ya,
Linda

Jackie...I love Christmas.  I love seeing all of my children at home, well most of them are already here, but they all come home and the grandkids.  I love Christmas cards also.  I love mailing and getting them.  I also love decorating.  I love our church get-togethers and just being with so many people I love during that time.  I also enjoy making my candy, cookies, and cakes.  That is the only time of the year when I LOVE to cook.  I usually make enough candy to take the clerks and some of the secretaries and paralegals in our area some goodies.  I enjoy watching them enjoy the goodies.  I just have a great time. 

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays.  It's one of the few times a year that all 7 of the siblings and most of their children & grands get together. 

We meet up at my sister's house a week or two before Christmas to have our annual "cookie day".  Usually, all 4 sisters are there, a couple of the sisters-in-law and a couple of our husbands.  There's usually between 10 & 20 people bustling around, mixing dough, shaping cookies & baking from early in the morning until early evening.  We normally make around 125+ dozen cookies.  Then there's the "dipping station" where my sister dips pretzels, oreos, ritz & pb crackers, and whatever strikes her fancy.  At the end of the day, we all bring home an assortment of all the different cookies that were made.  The little ones have their own table to make gingerbread houses or some other type of holiday craft.  Guess what all my friends are getting for Christmas?

For our main gathering for Christmas, we meet at my sister's house and have a potluck, gift exchange, and we always sing carols.  Sometimes we also go around her neighborhood and carol.  We give each family a loaf of pumpkin bread or something else yummy.

I have to be honest Jackie. My mother was the "thing" that made it special. The past two years I just have not wanted to have Christmas or Thanksgiving. I am trying hard but I think I am just doing the motions. I am hoping that this year will be easier.