Holiday Traditions

I was already planning to spend much of the Christmas season (which for me begins the day AFTER Thanksgiving) sharing recipes and traditions and even holding giveaways! (click the blinky above to see the schedule of what's happening when, or to get the blinky for yourself!) On Thanksgiving Day they are holding a "Day of Gratitude" so it fits in perfectly with my Thanksgiving Challenge!
Today, Holiday Traditions, one of my favorite things in the world! Frankly, I think pre-Thanksgiving is a little early to be discussing this, but hey, it's a carnival, and some things take preparation so oh well, here goes!

I already told you about Pie Night which is a tradition we 'stole' from some neighbors and have made our own.
We try to incorporate the traditions of our ancestors into our holidays. My Germanic ancestors celebrated on Christmas Eve, so along with hanging stockings, and reading Luke 2 and other stories, we each open one gift on Christmas Eve (it's always the same thing--I sew matching flannel jammie pants for all the kids, which they then wear to bed that night).
In Norway, where it's cold and dark, Christmas celebrations are not limited to one day! They celebrate Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, then the 26th is "Second Christmas" and "Lil Juleaften" (Little Christmas Eve) on the 23rd. They mostly celebrate by having massive quantities of rich foods on all four days. We have chosen to celebrate Lil Juleaften by making a traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner on that day (centered around Pork tenderloin, boiled potatoes, and whatever other Scandinavian foods strike our fancy that year).

Each family member has one personalized tree ornament and they always get to hang their own. We also have one from our first year as a married couple--we got married just a few days before Christmas, so Christmas was more or less on our honeymoon. ☺
We are also slowly collecting one ornament from each country where our ancestors were from...I'll be sharing pictures of some of those on the Dec 11 "Tour of Homes."

I have several awesome recipes, but I'm not posting them today...I'm saving them for Dec 18 when we post recipes!!!